Useful Guide in Finding a San Diego Divorce Attorney

By: Joseph Carter | Posted: 13th October 2010

Finding a San Diego divorce attorney may be a tedious task and requires enough time and effort. Here are the important factors to consider when hiring a divorce attorney in San Diego to make your search a lot easier.

Get Referrals

The best thing to do when finding a divorce lawyer in San Diego is to ask referrals given to you by people who have used the divorce lawyer’s services. If you do not know any person who has been a client of a certain divorce attorney, you may ask for a list of clients you could contact. You can also come up with a list of good divorce attorneys in San Diego by researching divorce attorneys in the internet or contacting your county or state bar association.

Schedule an Initial Consultation

Be sure to schedule for an initial consultation and conduct interviews to further evaluate the credentials of your potential divorce attorneys. If a scheduled appointment to meet with your potential divorce lawyer has been put off many times or if the lawyer has not answered your phone calls promptly, consider finding another lawyer. During the initial consultation, make certain to ask pertinent questions such as the lawyer’s number of years of experience, the number of divorce cases handled, the types of divorces dealt with and other relevant details.

Likeability and First Impressions

List down the qualities you want for a divorce lawyer such as sex, age, type of fee structure and many other attributes. In addition, when you go to the divorce attorney’s office, take a look around to see if the office is organized. Observe if the secretary and other support staff helpful and acts in a professional manner. In general, if you get a bad vibe from your potential divorce attorney for any reason, do not hesitate to find another attorney. It is necessary that you have utmost confidence in your divorce lawyer because a big part of your life after divorce depends on this person.

Knowledge and Experience

Your divorce attorney’s practice should focus on family law and he or she should have extensive experience in handling divorce cases like yours. For instance, if you are getting a military divorce, you should prefer someone who has handled military divorce cases in the past.

Inquire About the Fees

Some divorce lawyers give free consultations, but it is not unusual for a divorce attorney to charge a consultation fee of $100 to $200 or charge their hourly rate. At the consultation, you should ask about the divorce attorney’s hourly rate and a retainer as well as whether any part of the retainer can be refunded. You should also clarify on how often you will receive detailed reports of your expenses. The hourly rates of divorce lawyers vary greatly by location but the best way to judge is to ask around and determine the average rate of lawyers for your area.



For information on San Diego Divorce visit the author's website, or its sister site on Los Angeles Divorce.
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Tags: important factors, professional manner, relevant details, first impressions, initial consultation, tedious task, state bar association, sex age, divorces, pertinent questions, divorce cases, divorce attorneys