How to Fire a Bad Divorce Attorney

I had three divorce attorneys. The first one cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars due to incompetence. The second called me one afternoon after office hours and said to me, “if you ever get horny just give me a call.” Not exactly the service I had paid for!

The third was a sweet woman but unorganized with massive personal problems of her own. I did most of the legwork, paperwork and everything else while she represented me. At least I knew it was being done. Divorce Advice For Women: Eleven Things to do Now

Needless to say, due to the incompetent and unethical behavior of my divorce attorneys the divorce process did not progress in the way I had hoped. There is nothing worse than dealing with the emotional devastation of divorce while, at the same time the frustration of poor legal representation.

When choosing a divorce attorney do your homework AND remember you are not obligated to stay with an attorney who is not meeting your needs and your expectations. Divorce Tips for Women: How to Prepare for a Divorce

What should you expect from a divorce attorney?

• Empathy…you are going through a trying time, your attorney should show concern.
• Your phone calls to be returned within one day. There is no excuse for an attorney to put off communicating with his/her client upon request.
• To understand the direction your case is taking. Your attorney should be willing to discuss in full with you what is happening in your case and what they expect to happen in the future.
• To know where your case is in the process. If the case isn’t progressing your attorney should have an explanation. There are reasons divorce cases don’t move smoothly through the family court system and you have a right to know the reason.
• To know what work is yet to be done to adequately represent you. You should be given an explanation of what the divorce process is like in your area. Will there be interrogatories to respond to? What will the discovery phase be like?
• Your appointments to be kept. This should go without saying, wish it did. If you have an attorney who cancels appointments, you have a bad attorney.
• Basic courtesy and civility.

Divorce attorneys make a lot of money off their clients. They also have a tendency to view divorcing clients as overly emotional pains in the butt. I have friends who are divorce attorneys, believe me, they enjoy the money but don’t care for the clients. Make sure your attorney pays you the respect you are paying him/her for. Ten Tips To Ease Your Divorce: Mediate, Don’t Litigate

When should you fire a divorce attorney?