Options are a good thing. They keep us from feeling like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. How often in life have we thought that we had two bad choices to select from and neither were any good? That is where options come into play. The more options that you have the more you can feel like you have some autonomy over your situation. That is a powerful feeling when you can choose Option C, D, or E instead of holding your nose and going with Option A or B.
On the other hand, options can present challenges as well. Who among us hasn’t been to a restaurant only to spend twenty minutes looking at the menu? The choices and options at some restaurants are tough to handle because there are so many delicious-looking meals to choose from. We see servers walking by with trays of food that look great. How can we choose? Even when we do select how can we know that we made the correct one?
The same situation can play out when it comes to selecting an attorney to represent you in a family law case. There is no shortage of options in the Houston area when it comes to family law representation. You can drive your car up and down any major street in your area and are sure to find the signs for a half dozen attorneys who would be more than happy to accept your case. The trouble is- how do you know which one(s) are worth hiring and which ones to stay away from at all costs?
When you don’t have a ton of experience when it comes to hiring an attorney that can present some issues. The last thing you can afford to do (literally and figuratively) is to hire the wrong attorney and wind up paying money for a lawyer who doesn’t help you in your case. When you pay real money for an attorney you need that person to perform a specific task for you and to do so most efficiently and economically possible.
In today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan, we are going to spend some time discussing with you how you can choose the right lawyer for your legal needs. It is not always easy to find the right attorney for your case when you have so many options to choose from. That is why we wanted to take the time to help you identify characteristics to look for when meeting with attorneys to assist you in that endeavor. We are going to walk with you from the moment you start to think about hiring a lawyer to when you sign up with the attorney of your choice.
If you have questions about any of the information you read in this blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about your circumstances, the law, and how these two factors will interact in your family law case.
So you think you need an attorney- what to do next
When you have run into a family loss situation that you don’t think can be resolved without intervention from an attorney then you should stop for a moment and consider your options. Many people run into family circumstances that appear to be hopeless. This could be a marriage that has been struggling for some time and now is considering a divorce.
First, have you gone to counseling with your spouse? This may not have been an option that you have truly considered before. However, churches, community organizations, private therapists, and even counselors through your employer are available to assist you when it comes to trying to avoid having to get a divorce. They say that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you can avoid a divorce, then you should try to do so.
Another circumstance that may lead you to believe that a family law case is necessary is one involving your children in a child custody case. If you and your child’s mother or father are not married then you may be interested in setting up child support and visitation orders. Did you know that you can do so through the Office of the Attorney General or even through mediation? Again, these are options that you may not have been aware of but I’m nonetheless available to you. Our point is that hiring an attorney may not be necessary in your case. You may have other options available to you that will work just as well if not better.
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that you are in a situation where you must start looking into legal representation. Let’s assume that this is related to a divorce. As we alluded to earlier in today’s blog post, there is no shortage of attorneys in our area who would be happy to take your case and represent you in a divorce. The key question that we need to ask ourselves is how you can, as someone relatively inexperienced, figure out how to select the best attorney for your needs. With so many options how do you choose?
We need to be able to assess our choices and begin to reduce the number of potential attorneys down to a manageable amount. Having to choose from 1000 different attorneys on your side of town is not wise. This will leave you with something that I like to call paralysis of the analysis. This means that you will be so overwhelmed with the sheer volume of choices that you will be unable to select. Therefore, it is best if you can begin to reduce your options down to a handful of attorneys who look promising and who you are interested in learning more about.
The best way to begin to reduce that selection of attorneys is to look for a lawyer who specializes in family law. A divorce is a type of family law case. Family law attorneys specialize in divorce cases and know the courts, judges, laws, and procedures associated with these cases. Why should that be important to you? This should be important to you because you do not want to waste time or money in your case. When it comes to a legal case both elements, time and money are limited. Therefore, you want to put your best foot forward and begin your case on a strong footing.
Hiring an attorney who has experience in divorce matters can be the best advantage that you give yourself during the entirety of your case. That lawyer will be able to provide you with specific experiences where he or she has counseled other people in similar circumstances to you. From there, you can draw from their experience and begin to make decisions about what is and what is not in your best interests. This is as opposed to a situation where the attorney that you are working with has no experience in divorce cases or very little. At that point, you are simply relying upon that person being licensed to practice law in Texas. No matter how much experience this attorney has in different areas of the law you were looking for a specific experience in divorce and family law.
Schedule a consultation with a handful of family law attorneys
Once you have identified a handful of attorneys who specialize in family law the next step in the process should be to plan on meeting with that attorney for a consultation. A consultation is simply a meeting with the attorney to introduce yourself, get to know the attorney a little bit better, and gain some information about your case. Until you are a client of that attorney, he or she should not be providing you with legal advice. However, you can use this consultation to provide information to the attorney and then he or she can provide feedback on your case or information about the law.
These consultations are also important from the perspective of trying to get a feel for the lawyer. Hiring an attorney is one of the most important decisions that you will ever need to make. Not only are we talking about spending a fairly substantial sum of money on something, but that attorney will also be handling matters related to your family, your finances, and your relationship with your children. As a result, you do not want to leave anything to chance. Making sure that you are comfortable with the attorney and the services that he or she provides is essential to your success in this type of case.
When you have a consultation with an attorney you both must talk and listen. In a way, meeting with an attorney for a consultation is not dissimilar from a first date. You may be a little bit nervous, but finding out about this other person is just as important as talking to him or her. The attorney will reveal their personality, their experience, their opinions, and their overall persona to you in one of these consultations. Do not take for granted the opportunity to gain a good understanding of that lawyer simply through listening to him or her.
We have all had those experiences in life where we are talking to another person and he or she simply rubs us the wrong way. It could be through no fault of theirs that we have this feeling one way or another. This can be just as true in a personal setting as it could be in a professional setting like a consultation with an attorney. Just because an attorney has a fancy office or a lot of experience does not mean that the attorney is right for you. You should consider the sort of personal factors that you would and the rest of your life when it comes to hiring an attorney.
If possible, you should attempt to schedule consultations with more than one attorney. Again, you want to have some options to consider but not so many that you will be unable to decide about which lawyer to hire. Preferably, you should attempt to meet with these attorneys in person. The reason for this is that you can get a better feel for a lawyer by speaking with him or her face to face. Having the opportunity to meet with attorneys to discuss your case is a tremendous advantage. If possible, we should not hire a lawyer without having spoken to their office on at least one occasion. We understand that there may be circumstances that require you to make fast decisions about hiring a lawyer. However, these are the exception rather than the rule. Generally speaking, if you need to hire a lawyer for a divorce you will have a fair amount of time to make a decision.
The advantages of hiring the Law Office of Bryan Fagan to represent you in a family law case?
There are a fair number of advantages to hiring an attorney with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan for your family case. First, we appreciate the opportunity to spend some time with you today on our blog. One of the qualities that our office attempts to promote in our attorneys is a desire to serve. Our office serves our community by promoting greater knowledge of the law. This is one of the many reasons why we post blogs so frequently and share them on our website.
Additionally, by hosting these blogs we believe that it leads to a more educated client base which promotes better conversations when you ultimately meet with one of our attorneys for the first time. We cannot tell you how many times we have sat down with the potential client and have received questions based on shared in a blog post. This is something that we take a lot of pride in and that we will always do to serve our community. So, if you meet with one of our attorneys and have questions about a legal matter related to family law you should know that we almost certainly have a blog post, eBook, or other source of information available to you at no charge that relates to your question of choice.
Did you know that the Law Office of Bryan Fagan has twenty experienced family law attorneys that you can choose to work with? We believe that having a staff of attorneys this size can make a huge difference for you as a person who is going through a family law case. Rather than having to choose from a single attorney at many family law firms, we are proud of the group of lawyers that we have assembled here in our office. However, we do not take it for granted that our attorneys need to be skilled advocates and effective negotiators. While we take pride in the size of our firm, we want you to know that everything our office does in terms of representing clients is designed to benefit them and their families.
Family law attorneys bill by the hour. This means that different attorneys will have different rates that they charge clients based on the work performed on a particular case. In this regard, our office is no different. We will provide you with the billing schedules for all our attorneys when you meet with us for a free-of-charge consultation. This means that there will be no question or secrecy about how much our attorneys billed by the hour.
Our more senior attorneys bill more per hour than a junior attorney. This reflects the level of experience and the relative difficulty of cases that our senior attorneys take on. However, even our junior attorneys possess a great amount of experience in family law cases and are equipped to handle even the most complex of family law matters. What we seek to do in representing clients is to provide them with options based on their needs when it comes to representation issues. This is not something that we take for granted and we very much want to be able to help our clients make wise decisions and pursue their goals effectively.
What to do now? Reach out to our office online, over the phone, or in person for a free-of-charge consultation. We hope that you have learned something about choosing the right lawyer for your legal needs in today’s blog post. Any questions you have or concerns that you may want to ask us about can be discussed with us six days a week.
Questions about the material contained in today’s blog post? Contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan
If you have any questions about the material contained in today’s blog post, please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys offer free-of-charge consultations six days a week in person, over the phone, and via video. These consultations are a great way for you to learn more about the world of Texas family law as well as about how your family’s circumstances may be impacted by the filing of a divorce or child custody case.
