Can I changes horses in mid stream aka can I get a new lawyer half way through my divorce?
The short answer is yes. This might seem like a weird blog to write but I am writing it because of what happened last week. We got a call from a mother who just received a very negative trial result and she consulted us. There were many things about her case that we would have done differently but it was all too late. The mother had feared that her attorney didn’t have the trial experience or the trial preparation she would have wanted but now it was all too late. There are options post trial but they are limited. I am not talking about second guessing other attorneys. I am not talking about Monday morning quarterbacking. We don’t do that. I am talking about some absolute issues that needed to be brought to the judge but were not. The court does not give you a second bite at the apple.. They allow modifications under strict rules but it is not like the first trial. And you can imagine that doing it right the first time is way less expensive than doing it twice.
It is imperative that you do not finish with an attorney who you believe is giving you bad advice or one who makes you feel belittled or hopeless. This is very important because you have one chance to get it right the first time. After the final trial, you can change things but it is much harder and the standard for change (called modifications) is much tougher. So if you feel like you are not being represented properly, reach out to another attorney and consider a consult. We often get these calls. We just simply tell it like it is. We never say negative things about another attorney and many times we agree with the strategy and the decisions. Some clients have never experienced an attorney or the legal system before and they think it should be less formal, the judge should just get it or that it should not take so much time or money. So they ask those questions and we answer them straightforwardly. So even if you don’t change attorneys you will at least have more data to know you are making a good decision.
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