Over the years of practicing law, I have always made the following suggestions
for clients to keep their cost down in the divorce case:
1) Sleep on it. Typically, clients call when something they perceive as
traumatic has happened. Often, I encourage client to document whatever the event
is and then wait until following day to make the determination on whether they
still need to call the attorney or not. When people are at the height of their
emotions, there thinking may be more impaired then when they take the time to
process the event. People tend to spend longer times on the phone (more fees)
when they are emotionally charged then when they have taken the time to prices
the event. With all that said, if an emergency merits a call, please call.
Otherwise, sleep on it and if you still feel you need to call then call.
2) Consolidate your concerns before calling/emailing. Attorney charge by the
1/10 of an hour. As such, you may have a quick question for your attorney which
would result in him replying to your question and charging you for the 1/10 of
an hour when that amount of time was not really spent. To maximize your retainer
and time, I encourage clients to save their questions until they have at least
3-4 and then ask those questions. On average, you will save yourself quite a bit
of money over the long run by consolidating your questions rather then asking a
simple yes or no question.
3) Save the legal questions for your attorney and the emotional questions for
your counselor. Divorce and separation is a devastating time for everybody. I
always make the recommendation that people obtain counseling services to help
them through the emotionally charged aspects associated with their divorce. The lawyer is ill equipped to deal with these issues and typically charges 3-4x the current rate for a counselor. You will get more bang for your buck if you save the legal questions for your lawyer and deal directly with the counselor on everything else.
For additional tips on saving money in the divorce proceedings, please contact Covina attorney, Paul A. Eads today. We take pride in saving our client's the most when it comes to their legal matters.