When in doubt, get a second opinion!

When in doubt, get a second opinion!

I had a consult the other day where something happened that had never happened to me before.  I spent a very pleasant (for me) hour talking to a prospective client about her upcoming divorce.  (I say it was pleasant for me because I liked her; I assume much less pleasant for her, though, because although...

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Making the decision to hire a divorce attorney is a difficult one.  Once you’ve reached the already difficult decision to separate and, eventually, to end your marriage, you have to decide whether or not you’ll hire an attorney to represent you in the divorce and then, if so, whom. I probably don’t need to tell...

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Being a family lawyer who represents women only – believe it or not – is not all sunshine and rainbows and fighting against narcissistic or abusive husbands. I know.  You’re shocked.  Sometimes, it’s really, really hard.  And one of the times when it’s the hardest is when you have to give advice to your client...

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When Non Lawyers Give Legal Advice

Getting your divorce information from a person who is not a lawyer is pretty risky behavior. I’m a member of a Facebook group for moms in a prominent local city, and I’ve noticed that there are a lot of requests for legal advice. It’s not a group for family lawyers, so, as you can probably...

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Ignoring Your Attorney’s Advice Part 2

  On Monday, we discussed common situations that we see in divorce and custody cases, and when a person’s decisions can have unintended consequences. Most people realize that, when you talk with a lawyer, they’ll give you advice. Most people don’t think beyond that word – advice – to the fact that what the attorney...

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Recorded conversations in Virginia divorce

It doesn’t happen all the time, but every so often I get a question about what to do in the event that someone else starts recording your conversations—ostensibly to use against you in some kind of civil or criminal proceeding.  In divorce law, most of the time those conversations are intended to be used as...

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