Finding the right divorce lawyer in New Jersey takes time and a lot of patience, especially if you are looking for a lawyer with experience in a specific discipline like collaborative divorce. Collaborative divorce lawyers work in a much different way than regular divorce lawyers do.
In collaborative divorce, each lawyer helps their clients resolve conflict through cooperation instead of leading them to litigation. The lawyer uses their client’s interests, like children, to work to a resolution together without litigation. The issues are resolved by the collaborative team and both parties works together, rather than against each other. Before choosing a New Jersey divorce lawyer, however, you will want to ask him or her a few questions.
How Much Time is Spent on Collaborative Divorce in Your Practice?
If you are interested in working with a general family lawyer, be prepared to be matched up with someone who may not have too much experience in collaborative law. Instead, you should be searching for an attorney whose practice is devoted to collaborative law. This way, you are working with someone who knows how that process works and can do his or her job as effectively as possible.
Is My Case Appropriate for Collaborative Divorce?
It is entirely possible for you to find the right collaborative divorce lawyer in New Jersey and meet with him or her only to find that your matter would be best resolved by litigation or arbitration. This can happen for a few reasons. If you are in an abusive relationship or if one party is under the control or power of the other, collaborative divorce proceedings are unlikely to be successful; both parties must agree to and commit to the transparency inherent in the collaborative divorce process.
How Long Have You Been Working in This Area of Practice?
Whether you are looking for a collaborative divorce lawyer or a litigation divorce lawyer in New Jersey, you want to work with someone with ample amount of experience in that specific area of practice. Working with a collaborative divorce lawyer to settle your divorce in an amicable way is a much better option than working with a divorce lawyer wth a litigation mindset. Your lawyer will be able to give you better advice and handle your case more professionally if they have prior experience in that area.
What is Your Fee?
Before you hire a divorce attorney, one of your first questions should be about what he or she plans to charge you for their service. This may seem like an obvious question, but it is an important one. You do not want to be stuck with hidden or additional fees later on.
How Long Will the Divorce Process Take?
This question can be answered more clearly if you follow the advice above and work with a lawyer with experience and knowledge in divorce or collaborative divorce. Your lawyer will not be able to pinpoint an exact date for when proceedings will end, but if they have seen a case similar to yours before, they can give you a general timeframe for the process.
How Will You Approach My Case?
This is the time for the divorce lawyer to go over his or her process and how the case will be handled. If you do not understand any part of the divorce process, you should speak up now. One of the key things you want to look for when asking this question is how personal their answer is; are they determined to help you get what you want out of the divorce or are their answers general or vague?. If you leave the consultation with your new divorce lawyer with more questions, do not hesitate to make another appointment or call them. Your divorce lawyer should be eager to help you and will encourage you to come to them with more questions. Most importantly, you should always feel comfortable with your New Jersey lawyer; if you have any reservations, look for someone else to take your case.
