Empowering Families

One should always ask a divorce attorney — if that’s who you are first talking to about a divorce — the kinds of practice that they have and the kinds of results that they get for their clients.

Now, I don’t mean you should go out and get the biggest fighting attorney who’s going to tell you, “Oh, I win all my cases.” Most good divorce attorneys ought to settle most of their cases. And let me just tell you, in New York, 97 percent of cases, of divorce cases of all types settle before a judge hands down a decision after a trial, so you really want to hire someone who’s an expert in settlement.

You should ask how much contact that they’re going to give you. Are you going to have direct access to the attorney? Are you going to be able to reach them on weekends? What are their rates? What is their emphasis in terms of settling your case? Because chances are you’re settling. They should know what’s important to you.