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How much does a good lawyer cost?
Everyone loves a lawyer joke. Me included, actually. Have you heard the genie one? I’ll do my best to do it justice, even though writing it out in a blog format isn’t normally the most hilarious way to try to tell a joke. So, the way the story goes, there’s this guy. He rubs…
Why do you require prepayment on a consultation fee?
Everyone wants a free consultation – but, of course, that’s not really something that family law attorneys are known for. Though there may be the odd new attorney starting out who offers a free consultation (no, I can’t provide a list – sorry, I don’t actually know myself), that is definitely the exception and not…
Can I hire a family law attorney for just one part of my case?
Hiring a lawyer is expensive, not to mention intimidating. Depending on the circumstances, there can be a million different reasons why you can’t really afford to have someone completely handle your entire case from beginning to end – especially since it’s really difficult, ahead of time, to get an accurate estimate of what the case…
Should I file for divorce? Or custody? Is there an advantage?
I follow up with women who’ve had consults with us – with any of our attorneys, not just the ones who meet with me – after their appointments, just to make sure that they got their questions answered in the appointment. I find that, in a lot of cases, they either forgot to ask something,…
What is a retainer agreement and what does it do?
If you’ve never hired an attorney before – and, let’s face it, few of us have – you probably have a lot of questions about what to expect and how it all works. I hired an attorney once for a personal injury case, and, even as an attorney myself, I felt a little bit like…
I have an ongoing, complicated divorce or custody case. What should I do?
Divorce and custody cases can be pretty complicated. Though these things can take shape in all sorts of different ways, generally speaking, when we meet with someone who already has a case going on and who is either checking up on the decisions her lawyer is making or is ready to fire her first (or…
Why won’t a Virginia divorce attorney take my case?
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…
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…
Attorney’s Fees and Divorce
It’s scary, when you’re thinking of divorcing and splitting up all the things you’ve acquired jointly during the course of your marriage, to think also about the money you may have to pay to have an attorney represent you. It’s confusing, too, because different attorneys handle fees differently. You’ve heard, I’m sure, of the contingent…
Attorney Costs in a Separation Agreement Case
It’s scary to hire an attorney. It’s especially scary because you don’t know what to expect. You know it’ll be expensive, but what does that mean? You want to call an attorney to find out what your options are—but you’re also kind of scared. Attorneys don’t really post their rates on their websites, so how…