Changing lawyers midstream

[burnedman]

My lawyer is unresponsive to email and barely so with voice mail. He missed one divorce hearing , leaving me to argue as best I could against my wife's lawyer. He is currently two weeks late in mailing the interrogtory questions he promised. And he is not aggressive enough in court. On the other hand, most of the necessary work is going over old financial records so that I can get a fair split, as my wife is hiding marital assets. I need to do that time-consuming work myself, as I expect a fair outcome only if I can provide financial summary statements based on written proof (credit card billings, bank statements, etc.).

I would like a better lawyer, but don't want to fire mine unless I have a better alternative. Bar assoications have lists, but only serious infractions are reported, so it is hard to compare lawyers. I had thought that AngiesList would have reviews, but there are no listings under attorney or lawyer. The searches I have done on-line have are obviously distorted by commercial bias, and the lists I see even seem to exclude many lawyers.

Does anyone have advice on how to search for an aggressive lawyer, who will actually fight for me?

[Fatheroffour]

Personal references are the best.

Otherwise, its gut instinct and Box of Chocolates.

[lohe]

I would also check your state bar site to see if there have been any complaints about the lawyer first.

Also, as a favor to future potential clients of your current lawyer, I would place a complaint with the bar against him/her for lack of communication with his/her client.

[demurrer]

What state are you in?

Buying one-time legal services is a crap shoot. It's like buying a car without knowing anything about manufacturers, models, or features.

There's lists of top divorce lawyers (and in my area they didn't get me to a great attorney). Those lists did get me a top divorce only law firm that was exceptionally gifted at answering calls and letters from opposing counsel.

How did I know my attorney wasn't doing his best for me?
- didn't subpoena wife's employer for payroll records
- missed 21 day answer deadline
- didn't identify themselves as my counsel to Opposing counsel
- and a few other small screw ups
- they sucked at controlling costs by having all work done by one attorney (without help from the Partner, associate, or paralegal.

Consultations with attorneys can be revealing. If they know the opposing counsel and have experience litigating against them that's a good sign. It doesn't mean you'll win though.

Our side was pummeled (at the temp suopport hearing) by the OC and my attorney withdrew shortly afterwards.

I interviewed five (5) replacement attorneys. The first and second attorneys knew the OC, but could not cite a case similar to mine. The thrid attorney had done a case similar to mine against the OC and mapped out a similar plan for me. Through colleagues at work I found the fourth attorney. She (4th attorney) didn't have enough experience for my case and introduced me to a fifth attorney. The fifth attorney has a reputation for not being intimidated by anyone and that's who I retained.

It's expensive to interview and evaluate attorneys.

Billing rates are a __hint__ at what you're getting. At, for example, $500/hour the __divorce__ attorney should know all of the key divorce attorneys that practice in the local court.

$200 to $300 per hour is an indicator that they're mediocre or working thier way up the experience ladder.

With billing rates as a guide of effectiveness your mileage may vary.

[kmich91262]

Personal references are the best.

Otherwise, its gut instinct and Box of Chocolates.

Very funny FoF. But seriously I've had no luck with personal references. The first attorney ended up being IMO a washed up college professor (ironically he taught law at a local community college...makes me wonder what he was teaching). The second attorney, although good in getting me what I wanted in the end, learned with the third attorney he screwed the pooch on a couple of things in the court order which I asked about before hand which potentially will cost me in my pending custody case...turns out I was right after all. The third attorney, which I'm currently on, highly recommended but is non-responsive for the most part to communications and seems to have this pie in the sky notion that my case needs to be air tight before taking NJ to court. Currently in the process of looking for another attorney as I'm loosing faith in my current attorney that she can do the job as asked.

Edited to include had no in bold...guess that is what I get on about 2 hours of sleep and sick too boot.

[Fatheroffour]

I would recommend my attorney. No bar disciplinary issues and the only reviews I've found on him online have been good but you're correct, that's no guarantee.

We all interviewed our wives for a significant period of time before marrying them and , well, here we all are. IMO, going in for an interview is probably the least effective method for choosing an attorney. Probably on par with throwing a dart at the yellow pages.

Personal references and professional reputations are the best indicators, IMO, and that still doesn't mean you're going to be a good fit.


FWIW, I think a large firm specializing in domestic relations has some real benefits to offer when it comes to the issue of finding an attorney that you can mesh with. If that attorneys not 'getting it done' there are mechanisms in place to help resolve the problem. Attorney won't call back? It's against corporate policy, go over their head. Personality conflict with the attorney? You can be assigned to another without losing your retainer. Random other complaint? Go to their customer care representative.

[golfdad]

I also recommend using a lawyer from a larger firm.

I started with a one person (lawyer only) office. That's expensive as all work is billed at one rate.

I then moved to a small office with one lawyer, receptionist and paralegal. Again, most of the work was billed at one rate. But the guy was way overbooked and understaffed.

I'm moving to a larger firm with multiple lawyers. There is strength in numbers with paralegals and clerks helping to keep my costs down. And the lawyers can consult with each other on problems and opposing counsel tendencies.

I also went through our states bar association list of top lawyers. They have top 100 and top 50 lists. And finally I went for a guy that is younger and aggressive. No more waiting for my lawyer to return from this or that trip or long weekend. This guy works hard.

Pars & Birdies

[demurrer]

I also recommend using a lawyer from a larger firm.

+1 for larger firms that:
* treat you like a customer
* use multiple people to cost effectively work on your case (Partner, Associate, Paralegal)
* have access to in house non-Divorce attorneys (real estate, commercial law, etc)
* haven't had a recent reorganization of the Partners

I suppose a large firm would be more than ~10 attorneys focused on Divorce (and more attorneys in other non-divorce specialty areas).

Visit court and watch attorneys litigate different types of divorce cases. In my jurisdiction Domestic cases argued in 30 minutes or less are every Friday at 11:00 am. Take 1-2 hours to visit the court room a few times to get a feel for what happens AND maybe see your future attorney litigating someone elses case.

[cdavis]

If you have a relationship with any other attorneys (that don't do divorces) I would go to them and ask for advise on who to pick. There are big variations depending on where you live, I'm in a city of ~50k people and there are only a few that are full time family law, and a bunch that are a jack of trades. I went to my real estate attorney (who used to do divorces) and he referred me to the attorney who handled his divorce and he told me he was the best, other attorneys hire him to do their own divorces. He was the most expensive in town as fair as retainers and hourly rate but (according to the other attorney) does not pad expense like a lot of them. I ended up hiring him, but would have done the consult either way so my spouse could not hire him.