Divorce and child custody are complicated and, especially in the very early days of your case, you may feel like you’re standing on quicksand. Things are constantly changing and evolving between you and your soon-to-be ex, so it’s hard to have one conversation with an attorney that covers everything and, even if it did, you may walk out of the office feeling confident just to find that, the next thing you know, the game has changed again.
One minute he’s saying one thing, the next something else. And your opinions may be evolving, too. Maybe one minute you thought that you could live separately under the same roof, or that you really wanted to make sure you kept the house, but, as time goes on, your opinions shift. It doesn’t mean things are totally changing, but you are in a state of evolution – and so, too, is your case.
It’s normal. And there are a lot of questions, because your marriage, like your life, contains a lot of moving pieces. It’s scary and overwhelming and of course you have questions.
But you did the right thing. You came in for a consultation. You left feeling okay, if overwhelmed and anxious. But now more things have come up. So what’s next?
You can schedule a second consultation.
You can always schedule a second consultation with the same attorney or a different attorney – whether at our firm or somewhere else. I’d probably call it a second consultation if you had an appointment with the same attorney, but a second opinion if you have a consult with a different attorney or a different law firm.
Depending on your issue, you may have different questions. If you just want a continuation of the same conversation but with different or evolving questions, you may want to meet with the same attorney again. If your concerns are related to the attorney herself, you may want to talk to someone else to double check that they believe that the attorney’s plan is a good one. You might want to know about someone else’s level of experience, particularly if you’re dealing with a challenging issue, or see if someone else gives you a better vibe. (I know – that’s very millennial of me, isn’t it? But, hey, I like vibes.)
At our firm, we do our first consultation at a discounted rate, but any additional appointment(s) are at the attorney’s regular hourly rate. Our hourly rates are different from attorney to attorney depending on level of experience. This is true whether you have one second consultation or whether you consult with the attorney throughout your case (and essentially DIY, or even work with a different attorney but check up on them). Consults two, three, four, five, and fifteen will all be at the attorney’s regular hourly rate.
You can get a second opinion.
We do this with doctors ALL THE TIME, right? If you don’t like the advice you’re being given, you don’t have to just take it. You can double check it.
And, remember, it’s the practice of law (and medicine, actually). It’s not a science. Well, medicine is a science, but it’s also an evolution in each case and as science progresses. There’s some educated guesswork involved. And no two cases present exactly alike so you’re paying not just for the work that is performed but for the education, experience, and judgment required to be able to make those educated guesses about what will be the best course of action in each particular case.
If you don’t like the plan, ask questions. Ask questions to the attorney who came up with the plan, but then take those questions – if you’re still unsure – to someone else and ask them. There are so many different family lawyers, you’re bound to get some different answers. And that’s a good thing!
There’s no ‘one size fits all,’ and there’s not even just one case strategy, probably, for virtually any case. You could proceed differently, so it’s worth asking questions if something is not coinciding with your intuition or something about the case strategy feels off. Ask questions to each attorney and then make the decision both about who feels right for you and what case strategy feels right for you.
I don’t really have the money for another appointment right now, but I still feel like I need more information.
If you’ve had a consultation with us already, we can offer you a fee waiver to attend one of our monthly divorce seminars. It’s kind of like a second opinion in the sense that each seminar is taught by one of our licensed and experienced family law attorneys – and it’s in a format that encourages Q&A – so you can get more of those questions answered in a low stakes environment.
You won’t walk away with a retainer agreement, like after a consultation (and you may not need one, since you already had an appointment), but you may walk away with even more in the sense that it could give you the peace of mind to know your own next steps moving forward.
We teach the seminars on the second Saturday of each month from 8:30am to 10am. Each attorney teaches the seminar twice a year, so you may see the attorney you met with or someone else. Either way, it’s a great opportunity to learn more about family law and have a chance to ask your most burning questions (or come back again, later, to ask the new ones that have come up in the interim).
There are so many ways to get your questions answered! For more information, to schedule a consultation (or a second opinion), or to register for an upcoming monthly divorce seminar, visit our website at hoflaw.com or give us a call at 757-425-5200.