Think You Can’t Afford An Attorney?

You Might Find You Can’t Not Afford An Attorney

You were just served with court papers. Perhaps the documents were left at your residence. Maybe it’s for a divorce, custody of your children or child support from an attorney. Maybe it’s a restraining order. Or, maybe you need to file one of these actions yourself.

You start doing some basic internet research. You find some self-help booklets. You review the forms and think, “I can do this myself.” Perhaps someone you know has already been through a similar matter and you pick their brain.

You start going through the process and realize you have questions about the forms. You are not sure about the exact procedure and are not able to get much assistance from the court. The person who went through the process doesn’t really remember and now you are not sure how similar their matter really was to yours. You still want to handle the matter on your own but you wish you had some guidance. What do you do? Where do you go? How do you start?

If you don’t follow the correct procedure, at best you will need to start over. This will incur more time and expense. At worst you can give up important rights or claims. If you get the procedure correct but don’t fully understand the law, you again are at risk. You can pay too much or not get enough. You can waive claims or benefits you don’t even know you are entitled to. You can be prevented from introducing evidence or otherwise proving your claim or defending against a claim. You will likely not get the discovery you need. Your mistakes may be undone but with more time and cost. Some mistakes are permanent. Legal assistance is crucial when handling matters on your own. As such, partial representation should be considered.

Limited Scope Representation – What is it, how does it work, why consider?

What is Limited Scope Representation: a partial representation which is relatively new and allowed in family legal matters.

How doe Limited Scope Representation work: The client, with the assistance of the attorney, decide what parts of the matter each will handle. Each is allowed to work independently but often confer for strategic purposes.

Why select a Limited Scope Representation: Cost savings and control. Legal representation is expensive. Limited Scope Representation gives the client the option of representing themselves with the benefit of an attorney for the parts of the case they feel is most important or complicated. It also gives the client more control over how their legal matter proceeds which some people see as a benefit instead of a burden.

Up until recently, this hybrid representation was not an option; the attorney was either all in or not. This arrangement makes expert legal assistance available to more people going through family legal issues. The problem is, many people don’t know about it and many attorneys do not discuss it. Please share this information.

Learn more about Limited Scope Representation

What is Limited Scope Representation?

What to do when served a subpoena?

You know you need an attorney – want an attorney – to take care of a legal matter for you. But you think you can’t afford an attorney. Or perhaps you feel that it will be cleaner and easier to handle the matter yourself, without getting attorneys involved.

So you go with your friend or family member to the court and try to handle the matter yourself. You don’t understand the process and the people at the court can’t offer you legal advice. You try to make sense of the forms and follow the rules. It’s time consuming and stressful. Everyone is full of advice but you’re not sure who to listen to. Sound about right? Perhaps Limited Scope Representation is for you.

Limited Scope Representation – What is it, how does it work, why consider?

What: Limited Scope Representation is partial representation which is relatively new and allowed in family legal matters.

How does it work: Both the attorney and the client file appearances with the court. The client, with the assistance of the attorney, decide what parts of the matter the attorney will handle and what parts of the matter the client will handle. Each is allowed to work independently but often confer for strategic purposes.

Why: Cost savings and control. Ideally, everyone would be able to afford full representation for their legal matter. Legal representation is expensive and many people just cannot afford the full boat. Limited Scope Representation gives the client the option of representing themselves with the benefit of an attorney for the parts of the case they feel is most important or complicated. It also gives the client more control over how their legal matter proceeds which some people see as a benefit instead of a burden.

Up until recently, this hybrid representation was not an option; the attorney was either all in or not. This arrangement makes expert legal assistance available to more people going through family legal issues. The problem is, many people don’t know about it and many attorneys do not discuss it. Please share this information.  If you are interested in learning more about this option, please visit our A-La-Carte Legal Services page.

Limited Scope Legal Representation?

What: Limited Scope Legal Representation is partial representation which is relatively new and allowed in family legal matters.

How it works: Both the attorney and the client file appearances with the court. The client, with the assistance of the attorney, decide what parts of the matter the attorney will handle and what parts of the matter the client will handle. Each is allowed to work independently but often confer for strategic purposes.

Why: Cost savings and control. Ideally, everyone would be able to afford full representation for their legal matter. Legal representation is expensive and many people just cannot afford the full boat. Limited Scope Representation gives the client the option of representing themselves with the benefit of an attorney for the parts of the case they feel is most important or complicated. It also gives the client more control over how their legal matter proceeds which some people see as a benefit instead of a burden. Up until recently, this hybrid representation was not an option; the attorney was either all in or not. This arrangement makes expert legal assistance available to more people going through family legal issues. The problem is, many people don’t know about it and many attorneys do not discuss it.

For more information, please visit our A-La-Carte Legal Services page

The Spots Are Still There

Divorce changes relationships, not people

Here is a hard truth: if your spouse is lazy, bad with money, self-centered, irresponsible, greedy, a bad parent, abusive to themselves or others, or has any number of other deficits which have contributed to the breakdown of the marriage, your ex-spouse is likely going to continue to be all those things.

Many people assume that divorce is going to “fix” the problems they have. It often fixes some problems but not others. It provides space for people. It eliminates the need to deal with the spouse on a daily basis. It allows for autonomy over finances. It often reduces conflicts over the children – or at least in front of the children. Sometimes a marriage relationship is toxic. And changing the relationship status actually allows each party to be better people for themselves and their children.

I’ve had instances where divorcing parties got along better following their divorce. In most cases, divorce does not change people. Some of my clients are incredibly frustrated by this. They have issues with timely payments of support, co-parenting, and compliance with other orders of the court. Some behavior changes occur for the better following contempt or modification motions that may be filed. The learning curve is a little slow for some. But there are others out there who just don’t change – period. As frustrating as it may be, sometimes the best thing an ex-spouse can do in these situations is to get some support to best learn how to cope with it.

There are only so many times you can go to court before the cost and emotional toll starts to cancel out any benefit received. The courts are not in a position to micromanage people and sometimes it gets to the point that the available remedies either are insufficient or actually hurtful for the person bringing the motion. Understandably, it’s very hard for some people to accept this. They feel as though there is no justice and the system has let them (and their children) down. Worse, they feel as though the other person has “won.” Being in a position to be able to let go, live your life in relative peace and not define your happiness based on someone else is the real triumph.

Reaching a Settlement

Pretrial gone good

by Kathy Boufford

I recently had a really good pretrial experience. A pretrial is an opportunity for attorneys to meet with a judge to review their case shortly before trial. By the time you get to a pretrial, all discovery should be complete. Settlement negotiations between the attorneys have failed and a trial has been scheduled for final resolution of the legal dispute. Sometimes one remaining issue is in dispute. Sometimes the parties are still fighting over all the issues. The pretrial is the last attempt to have the matter settle amicably and with certainty, prior to a full blown trial.

The success of the pretrial depends on all parties involved. Success is defined – in this sense – by settlement. Settlement is voluntary, although the impending trial (and all its implications) is a formidable incentive to settle. Some people just want their day in court, regardless of the outcome. They may want to “tell their story,” make the other party spend as much money as possible, delay the matter as long as possible, try to embarrass the other party, etc. If that’s the case, the pretrial is dead from the start. Some clients – and even some attorneys – are just unreasonable and the recommendation of the judge won’t be enough to nudge them. More often than not, the parties and attorneys are open to the suggestions of the judge and are ready to end their battle and this ugly chapter in their lives.

By this time, most clients realize that failure at this juncture means trial and it’s something they want to avoid. That leaves the judge. Some judges are just not good at mediation – which is essentially what is required at this proceeding. The judge needs to evaluate the positions of the attorneys, understand the motivating factors of the clients, communicate possible outcomes (depending on which judge might hear the case), and then recommend settlement terms that everyone can live with. The judge also needs to do all of this while at the same time making each attorney feel heard and respected. It’s actually much harder than just listening to all the evidence and then writing a decision after everyone leaves. This is why I was so impressed with my recent experience.

The judge not only did all of the above right, but dedicated hours (yes, hours) to the cause, seeing it through resolution. During the process, I and the other attorney gained so much insight into how that judge, and others in the same court, would likely evaluate many issues. There was a lot of back and forth regarding uncertainties and possible resolutions. It was a very collaborative effort (which is exactly what mediation is supposed to feel like).