When a person decides to pursue a legal case that necessitates representation by an attorney, I think the most crucial step in that process is when the attorney is hired. Yes, the actual point itself is critical. The outcome of the matter is essential as well. However, you cannot get to any of those steps with any degree of confidence without selecting the right attorney for your case. You may be an expert in the area of law in question, but without guidance from the right attorney for you in your case, you will not be able to accomplish as much as you would like.
Developing a relationship with your attorney in their office is essential for selecting and hiring an attorney. Depending on the type of legal matter you are interested in pursuing, this may be the most critical step. Consider that in a divorce case, your attorney’s office will become your advocate, your support system, your family in many ways, and a massive piece of the puzzle in determining the future of you and your children. Being comfortable with your attorney in their staff is an enormous part of this process.
What does it take to feel comfortable and confident in hiring an attorney? If you have never hired a lawyer before and feel uneasy about even getting involved in the process, where do you begin? These are questions that I have observed many people who have walked into our law practice embody. This isn’t their fault, and it should not be expected that every person feels at home in a lawyer’s office. I would argue that if you feel comfortable in the lawyer’s office when you walk in for the first time, they would be in the minority. Hiring a lawyer is an unfamiliar experience and can be intimidating for some.
My point in discussing this at the beginning of today’s blog post is to let you know that you cannot use these deterrents as excuses for your responsibility in Hiring an attorney who is well suited for you in your case. Especially in a matter like a divorce, where the outcome is highly personal to you, you need to do your due diligence and develop a level of comfort with your attorney and the legal system. By selecting the right attorney, I will guide you and show you how to become comfortable with this process we call divorce.
The added difficulties associated with the coronavirus pandemic when hiring an attorney
On top of all the subject matter we have covered already in today’s blog post, we also need to devote some time to discussing the coronavirus pandemic in its impact on your ability to interview, higher, and eventually meet with a divorce attorney regularly. By now, we have all become familiar with the general guidelines that the government and businesses alike seem to want to practice. Those would include social distancing, hand washing, even wearing masks in certain situations. No matter your particular opinion on these matters, the fact is that this is our reality for now, and I’m going to write to his blog post with these realities in mind.
Earlier in the pandemic, many businesses, ourselves included, stopped having employees come into the office due to concerns for the safety of our community and our employees. Months ago, we had no real idea about how deadly the virus was or how easily it could be transmitted from person to person. Out of the abundance of caution, local governments issued stay-at-home orders that had varying impacts on our community. While since then, local governments have lost the ability to issue state home orders like these, the fact is that many people are not comfortable coming out into public quite yet. If you fall into this category and still want to proceed with the divorce, you may believe you are caught in tricky circumstances.
However, you will be glad to find out that you do not need to sacrifice your mental health or physical well-being to proceed with the divorce. As we will discuss later in today’s blog post, technology is your friend in this regard. Our office seeks to utilize technology to the greatest extent possible to allow for you to begin a divorce and complete your case with his little difficulty as possible.
Before discussing the use of technology in your ability to meet with your divorce attorney virtually, I would like to devote some more time to discussing the vital subject of hiring a divorce attorney and how important it is to take this step seriously. Not all attorneys are created equal, and the importance of your ability and willingness to interview and select the right attorney for you and your family cannot be understated. If you would like some guidance on that process, then you have come to the right place.
Finding the right divorce attorney for you and your family
Living in a big city like Houston and in the greater metropolitan area if you do not live within the city limits can be a mixed blessing when hiring an attorney. If you are strongly considering filing for divorce from your spouse right now, then it has probably crossed your mind that you will need an attorney. While you can certainly file for divorce and get divorced from your spouse without hiring an attorney, I would not recommend doing so. Divorces can be complicated, time-consuming, and emotional on a level that you may not anticipate. These factors come into play during your divorce at any time. And can be especially difficult during tough times like we’re going through right now.
Couple that with the disruption the coronavirus shut down has caused on local courts. You have a situation where the guidance of an experienced family law attorney is more important now than ever. The key is to hire an attorney who has experience in handling divorce cases. Houston is a city where you will not struggle to find an attorney willing to take your divorce case. All you need to do is go up and down any major street in our city, and you will find many, many attorneys who are being advertised by signs on the road. You need to ask yourself whether or not the first attorney you see is the one that you should settle on.
My first piece of advice is only to consider hiring family law attorneys to represent you in your divorce. A divorce is a kind of case that any lawyer who has a general practice tells you that they are competent to handle. However, unless your attorney has a great deal of experience in handling divorces, I would not bother interviewing them in any area of the law or any site of life; experience matters. All of the confidence, fancy clothes, or fancy offices in the world cannot make up for experience; if you are interviewing an attorney and they have not represented many clients and divorces and taking those clients through the end of the case, then I wouldn’t even bother continuing the interview.
Once you have determined that you are meeting with a family law attorney with experience handling divorce cases like yours, you should ask more specific questions about the types of divorces they are dealt with. For instance, if your divorce case involves many children, you should ask the attorney if they have dealt with divorce cases or clients who have had children that need to be cared for as yours do. On the other hand, if you have no children but have a large community estate that will need to be divided between you and your spouse, you should inquire how that attorney has handled situations like yours in the past.
There is nothing wrong with a young or inexperienced attorney trying to learn the ropes to develop their practice. All the attorneys start at that point, whether they are sole practitioners or begin working for an established law firm. However, I do not recommend you being the person to help that attorney gain experience. If you want to help a local business just starting, you can buy a pizza from a new restaurant in your neighborhood. However, I wouldn’t believe the legal services of a new attorney in the same way.
Utilizing technology to help you select and meet with the right family law attorney
Here is where we get to discuss how you can keep yourself healthy during this time and take advantage of the opportunities to meet with your family law attorney. Let me begin by saying that I believe most family law attorneys in our area have open offices and are perfectly happy and eager to meet with you in person. I can tell you that our law practice is taking every step possible to keep our community, visitors, and employees healthy. All of the strict requirements that any other business would employ, such as mask-wearing hand washing and cleaning our office meticulously, are in use. We have been welcoming clients into our office for weeks when our employees have back at work during the same period.
So, if you want to meet face-to-face with a family law attorney, I can assure you that our office is here to help you in that regard. However, if you prefer to meet with your attorney virtually, our office is here to tell you that we can assist you in that regard as well. For instance, if you are starting in your beginning your search for a lawyer, our office offers free of charge consultations with one of our licensed family law attorneys over the phone, in person. We have done our best to be as accommodating as we can to the needs of our clients and our community.
If, after careful search in time committed to looking for an attorney, you have decided to hire our law practice, I can again tell you that we will take every measure possible to be as communicative and available to you as you would like in need at this time. Just because we’re in a pandemic right now does not change your divorce case’s overall pace or feel by all that much. The fact is that divorce cases have periods where they are swamped, and you would contact your attorney much more frequently. However, most divorces have lulls where you will not need to be in touch with your attorney as often.
Your specific divorce will determine the frequency with which you will need to contact your attorney. I won’t attempt to guess at your particular case because I do not know your specific circumstances. However, generally speaking, the more willing you and your spouse are to negotiate and work through your disagreements together naturally helps reduce the hours that need to be spent in your case and the interaction you need to have with your attorney. If you need a divorce attorney right now, our office is here to serve you.
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 are available with you to discuss your case in person, over the phone, and via video. Thank you for choosing to spend part of your day with us today on our blog, and we hope you will join us again tomorrow as we produce more original content related to Texas family law.
Bryan Fagan, a native of Atascocita, Texas, is a dedicated family law attorney inspired by John Grisham’s “The Pelican Brief.” He is the first lawyer in his family, which includes two adopted brothers. Bryan’s commitment to family is personal and professional; he cared for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s while completing his degree and attended the South Texas College of Law at night.
Married with three children, Bryan’s personal experiences enrich his understanding of family dynamics, which is central to his legal practice. He specializes in family law, offering innovative and efficient legal services. A certified member of the College of the State Bar of Texas, Bryan is part of an elite group of legal professionals committed to ongoing education and high-level expertise.
His legal practice covers divorce, custody disputes, property disputes, adoption, paternity, and mediation. Bryan is also experienced in drafting marital property agreements. He leads a team dedicated to complex family law cases and protecting families from false CPS allegations.
Based in Houston, Bryan is active in the Houston Family Law Sector of the Houston Bar Association and various family law groups in Texas. His deep understanding of family values and his professional dedication make him a compassionate advocate for families navigating Texas family law.
