How to Prepare for a Family Law Initial Consultation

I got this question for the first time the other day – how do I prepare for an initial consultation – and I realized it’s something that I hadn’t specifically written on before. I’ve written about whether you can bring someone with you, what documents you should bring, what to expect, and so on, but...

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How do I get him to pay for my Virginia divorce?

We can all put divorce right up there on the tippy top of the list of things we don’t want to pay for, right? Even if you want the divorce itself, you don’t really want to pay the costs associated with it. A joke I hear all the time – especially when I tell random...

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It happens sometimes that a potential client walks into our office, tells us their story, and ultimately walks away without a retainer agreement. There are lots of reasons we might not give a retainer agreement. Sometimes the potential client only comes in to get more information. Sometimes, they’re not really ready to move forward just...

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The Fifth Amendment and Adultery

Like everyone else, I’m a little obsessed with Hamilton right now; I saw it at Chrysler Hall this past winter, and watched it on July 3rd as soon as it came on Disney+. I’m also (no secret here) a Virginia attorney, and I’ve been reading up, since July 1st, on the new law changes that...

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Un-Signing a Prenup

I talked last week about cases where a prenup is already signed (spoiler alert: YES, it IS a big deal!). The gist of it is that, in any case, a legal contract like a prenuptial agreement or a separation agreement exists in order to modify the law, and to make specific conditions apply to the case...

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Avvo, FindLaw, SuperLawyers: What does it mean?

It’s hard to pick an attorney. How do you know who is any good? How do you know whether they’ve handled cases like yours? How do you know whether they’re as comfortable in a courtroom as behind a desk? How do you know…anything at all? Law firm websites are full of glossy headshots of attorneys...

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Virginia Custody Retainer

We get lots of frantic inquiries from women about pro bono divorce and custody services – something we really don’t offer (and, frankly, that no other law firm that I’m aware of really does offer, either). Pro bono is a hard thing, for a lot of reasons. Cases are expensive and time consuming; we really...

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Can I fire my family law attorney?

It’s not like it’s something that happens every day, but, sometimes, things don’t work out between a client and an attorney. Sometimes, it’s the fault of the attorney (hey, you already know it – we’re not perfect); sometimes, it’s the fault of the client; sometimes, it’s situational. You can fire your family law attorney –...

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