The advise out there on this topic is truly terrible.
Articles and blogs are on the internet encouraging people to not communicate with their lawyer. Advising those going through a divorce to go “straight to court” instead of trying to settle the matter through lawyers.
Arguing that your divorce attorney communicating with another divorce attorney is bad thing.
I see advise out there that will actually raise your attorney’s fees instead of lower them.
When going through a divorce, there are a number of places you may find your costs getting out of hand. By following these steps, you can help to minimize the amount you have to pay in attorney’s fees.
1. Check into flat fees.
Some lawyers will work on a flat-fee basis. In such an arrangement, you pay a set fee up front, and your lawyer takes care of the matter, regardless of the amount of time it may take. This puts the risk of a given task taking longer than usual on the lawyer’s shoulders and lets you budget for a known cost.
You should not think that this will be a cheap option: The average fee for legal services not involving litigation is $10,000. However, when you consider the advantages along with the potential for a “runaway” divorce that could end up costing more than $50,000, the flat fee arrangement starts to look like a good option. Ask your lawyer if he or she will consider working under such an arrangement.
2. Check into mediation or collaboration.
A divorce doesn’t have to be adversarial. If you and your spouse can agree on the particulars of the divorce, you can avoid litigation (which is the most expensive part of a divorce). Consider using a mediator, and be prepared to pay up to $2,000 a day. Like a flat fee arrangement, this sounds expensive, until you consider the alternative of paying a lawyer to litigate your divorce.
3. Consider splitting the bill for experts.
If the testimony of an expert—such as a psychologist or a financial analyst—is required, see if your spouse will split the bill with you. You both want the divorce to move forward, and if this is a necessary part of doing so, it’s in the interest of both parties to get the expert’s testimony. Of course, you want to be sure that your expert is impartial, as you don’t want to pay half of the bill for someone who is going to give a testimony that is prejudicial to your own interests in the proceeding!
4. Work to reduce conflict.
When you and your spouse cannot agree on a matter, that’s when the divorce gets expensive. Consider sitting down with your spouse and, with the mutual goal of ending the marriage with a minimum of cost in mind, see if you cannot reach a resolution on many of the major items. Try to work out issues such as whether your children will attend public or private school, what the parenting plan may be (also known as a visitation schedule), and who will foot the bill for unanticipated expenses such as sports programs.
Sometimes the parties to a divorce have both suffered tremendous mental and emotional strain, and this makes them combative towards each other. Keeping in mind the very real financial benefits of being able to minimize conflict, you may find that it’s beneficial to visit with a mental health professional who may be able to help repair some of the damage so that you and your spouse can amicably (and without the need for litigation!) resolve any of the issues you are stuck on.
5. Communicate frequently and effectively with your attorney.
Your lawyer needs to know what your overall goals and strategies are. This helps him or her steer the direction and development of the case towards your desired outcome more rapidly.
At the same time, consider that you may be paying your attorney in 6-minute increments for his or her time. To this end, avoid using email for lengthy questions that may take a long time for the attorney to answer. Email is fine for short “yes” or “no” questions, but if you need to discuss strategy or ask for his or her input on a matter, it may be better to pick up the phone.
Along these lines, remember that your lawyer is not an emotional counselor. He or she is not trained to help you resolve your emotional issues, and trying to use him or her to this end will prove to be both ineffective and overly costly. If you have emotional issues and need some help, consider talking to someone trained to engage in those types of conversations.
6. Don't lock yourself into positions (be flexible)
If you set your sights on a matter—such as 50/50 custody of the child—you close yourself to any negotiation and make expensive litigation more likely. Rather than setting your position in stone, be open to suggestions and compromise. For example, rather than insisting on 50% custody, be open to a parenting plan that may only entail 40% of evenings spent with you—but those 40% are more likely to be when you are free from work or other obligations, meaning that you actually get to spend more time with the child.
7. Be transparent: Turn in documents, complete paperwork, and don't hide things from the court.
When you are in a difficult divorce, it can be tempting to try to hide things in order to get a better outcome. This is a bad idea, as the court will eventually discover your dishonesty and may very well penalize you for it. At a minimum, it will mean your lawyer has to spend more time fixing the omissions, and more time from your lawyer means more money from you.
Keep in mind that if you hide things, it will almost always lead to litigation specifically targeted towards uncovering all your documents. This will be expensive, as litigation is time-consuming for your lawyer, and in the end you will still have to turn over everything.
In addition, if your spouse feels like you are trying to hide something, or like you are being overly argumentative, it will only make him or her return the sentiment in kind. He or she will become more combative and stubborn, which will lead to more litigation—and more attorney’s fees for you to pay.
Be responsible during this time. If you are required to submit certain documents or complete certain forms, make sure you take your responsibility seriously and get things done correctly and promptly. Unnecessary delays will only drag the case out, and will result in a higher lawyer’s bill for you to deal with.
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