There will be instances where spouses or parents abuse or disregard their marital and parental rights. Every time legal issues arise, you contact an attorney. What happened after you made retainer payments? After selecting a family law attorney, you should expect a professional.
Click here to watch the video What You Should Expect After Hiring a Family Law Attorney in Michigan
You might expect that your duties and legal difficulties will disappear overnight. That is not how it works. You may count on your attorney to offer you advice on how to communicate what has to be done. Expect your attorney to represent you in communications. Be prepared to pay for the communication and guidance. Your attorney is an expert. Expect to be treated with respect, and show the professional the same courtesy. If you are unable to maintain a professional relationship, be prepared for your attorney to quit.
You may be in a situation where you have not seen your kids for some time. Probably because you have a valid reason not to go visit them or you just decided they were not worth your effort at that time. Then you realize you need to see your kid and then find out you need an attorney to fix your mess.
Don’t expect your lawyer to walk into your life and your children to solve the mess you created. It doesn’t work that way. Every case is unique. Every case needs special attention. The court also sees it the same way. The court has a reputation for being slow. It takes purposeful incremental steps. It’s not really slow by intent but it is deliberate especially when the case involves children.
Your expectations after hiring your attorney should be realistic and pragmatic. If you have not seen your children because you were on Mars, you need to go and bring down your expectations back to Earth.
Here are five realistic and pragmatic expectations you should have after hiring a family law attorney.
Expectation No. 1: Steps Will Be Taken
Your attorney will take every effort to get you back on the right track. You and your lawyer are not going to sprint because a legal case is actually a marathon.
The initial consultation with a divorce lawyer typically lasts for an hour or so. The lawyer will enquire about the marriage and the circumstances throughout the meeting. This can include the duration of the relationship, your income and career history, any assets or obligations you both have, whether you have children together, and more. You might want to provide your lawyer with the following information:
[ a ] An overview of the marriage’s history
[ b ] Information on your family’s history, including your spouse and children
[ c ] Your current circumstance
[ d ] Your objectives and plans for the situation
[ e ] What details do you want to learn from the consultation
You may alleviate a lot of your worries and concern by working with an accomplished divorce lawyer. An attorney can advise you on what is best for you and your kids. Before the divorce is finalized, they can assist you in filing motions, negotiate with opposing counsel to secure the best settlement possible, represent you at numerous hearings and conferences, and ensure that your rights are upheld.
Family law covers a variety of relationships in addition to the marriage relationship, which is a major focus. In some cases, they might act as advocates for grandparents asking for visitation rights with their grandkids. Paternity cases are also handled by family law professionals and can be filed by both men and women. Family law attorneys can assist with adoption for those who are not parents but would like to be. A family law attorney can go over choices including private adoption, agency adoption, adoption from foster care, adoption internationally, and more because there are so many in this field.
Expectation No. 2: Shuttling Back and Forth to Manage the Nuances of Your Case
Your attorney will try to get a grasp of your situation and understand the legal context of the case. Most cases involving family law involve concerns like divorce, child custody, support, parenting time, wills, trusts, and other related matters. Family law attorneys can assist you in managing all the significant choices you need to make, defending your legal rights, and advancing your interests in court cases and settlement talks.
When it comes to litigation, experience is unbeatable. Family law attorneys have argued divorce matters in court for a sizable portion of their careers. They have unequaled insight into opposing counsel’s tactics and judges’ reactions to certain arguments and pieces of evidence because of their enormous experience.
Even if you are the one who filed for divorce, there is a good probability that you are going through some pretty intense emotional upheaval as a result of the situation. When you have a family law attorney on your side, you have a specialist who can provide objective, factual, and experience-based counsel regarding your divorce.
An attorney can complete tasks faster than you could because of their knowledge and experience, familiarity with court rules and regulations, and access to numerous resources. Most certainly, a family law attorney with experience has appeared before judges in your area. They will be aware of the judge’s preferences and what is necessary to correctly file documents in the local court system in order to keep proceedings on schedule.
Expectation No. 3: A Lot of Communication and Advice
The crux of every lawyer-client relationship is communication. Communication is really what lawyers can give. It’s their stock-in-trade. Their communication, their time, and their time are their stock-in-trade.
If you are thinking about getting a divorce in Michigan, you might get advice from almost everyone. All of a sudden, opinions are shared by family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. They open up to you about their worries, their terrifying tales, and their suggestions—often whether you want to hear them or not. However, it’s likely that the viewpoints and recommendations you receive hold half-truths or inaccuracies.
Your case should always be handled by your attorney with your best interests in mind. They will pay attention and offer frank, unvarnished opinions without passing judgment, which can be challenging for family and friends. Family law is complex and requires a certain level of expertise to understand. You must research hundreds of statutes, keep up with developments in the law and society, and be familiar with previous court decisions. Therefore, it’s simple to understand how someone could be deceived when the other side makes frightening statements.
And, this is where communication and legal advice truly proves their value.
With good solid legal advice, you get ahead in your family law case. A skilled family law attorney can frequently assist in defusing tension rather than just resolving it. It’s possible that if you try to settle a dispute on your own, you’ll discover that you and the other party become more emotionally involved in the problem, escalating the argument and increasing the cost of hiring a lawyer to handle it.
Because their expertise and time are their stock-in-trade, expect to be billed frequently for their time and advice, whether it is via phone, Zoom, chat or live person-to-person meet-up. If you don’t want your legal cost to increase, don’t call them just to whine or for updated gossip about your ex.
Expectation No. 4: Expect Appropriate Respect from Your Attorney
When you call, you will get a return call. You will get proper reception from staff. A schedule for consultation or meeting will be arranged appropriately. Most highly effective and successful attorneys have very good office processes and staff. They deploy the latest technology to manage your case, and their most important asset is their ability to respectfully serve their clients who are experiencing the most stressful moments of their lives.
From the time they receive your email or your call, expect an appropriate response. The most successful ones even get to educate you about family through many resources they make available online. They employ technology to keep track of your case so lawyers assigned to your case are always kept abreast of the progression.
They may not always be able to respond to you on the same day but expect a response nonetheless. The most effective and highly successful family law firms are very busy because a lot of people know and trust them. They will always be preoccupied with active cases. Be patient. They always have a way via chat, email, or phone to get back to you. Just leave your contact information and a brief detail of your concern.
Expectation No. 5: Your Attorney, a Professional, Deserves Respect
The retainer you paid is not a license to be disrespectful. Your attorney knows you are probably in the worst place at the moment. They will understand if you’re anxious, depressed, angry, and confused. But you need to have boundaries because your attorney is there to help you navigate the legal process required to relieve you of your challenges. Your attorney simply cannot help you if you are emotionally incapable of grasping your situation and what is required to go forward.
Being a family lawyer does not come cheap and easy. A minimum of two years of undergraduate study (60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours) is required by the Michigan Board of Law Examiners before you may apply to law school. You must hold a bachelor’s degree before applying to law school at the majority of institutions with American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation. After completing the study, they need to acquire substantial experience in litigation to apply what they have learned in law school.
Divorce processes are frequently quite difficult and can elicit strong feelings among individuals who are involved. Therefore, having a support network by your side during this time is essential. Because of this, spouses are encouraged to bring a close family member with them to their session with a family lawyer. This person can be there for you to listen, inquire, and take notes about the discussion on your behalf.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!
Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.