Legally Speaking Military Focused Family Law Facts By Tana Landau, Esq.
What Questions Should I Ask Before Hiring an Attorney?
3. What is the retainer you charge ad how does billing work? You will want to know what the initial retainer is and
No one anticipates a divorce when they get married. To death do us part. But the reality is many marriages fail for several different reasons. If you have made the decision to file for divorce and regain your independence, you likely will find yourself in need of an experienced attorney to help you through the process and assist in custody and visitation, support, or division of marital property issues. But how do you choose the right attorney for you?
what it covers. Make sure that you ask what the billable rates are for the attorneys working on your matter as well as any paralegal or support staff. They often bill at different rates based on position or experience. Another question to consider is whether or at what point the firm would require a replenishment of that retainer. You also want to consider how a firm bill. Some attorneys bill in 6-minute increments while others bill in quarter hour increments. Additionally, some attorneys or firms bill for each phone call, email or letter, with a minimum charge.
At your initial consultation, there are several important questions to ask.
4. Do you handle military cases?
1. Does the firm specialize in family law? It is important to hire an attorney who is experienced in family law. There are several firms that practice in many areas of law versus firms that focus only on one area. A firm that only handles family law matters may not only have more experienced attorneys to handle your divorce, but also may be more known within the family law community. As such, they may have relationships established with other family law attorneys which could aid in settling any disputed issues in your case. 2. How many years have you been practicing? It is important to know how long an attorney you are considering hiring has been practicing family law. This will help you decide which attorney has more experience which can be very important if your divorce involves high conflict issues or if you have a high asset case.
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It is not only important to hire an attorney that specializes in family law, but also one that has experience with military family law matters if you are active duty military. Military family law cases have unique issues that require a specialized knowledge of both state laws and federal laws, including but not limited to jurisdictional issues, military retirement division, child custody and deployment.
