Don’t Learn the Hard Way, by Paul Lerandeau Esq.

I have learned many, many lessons over my 35+ years of handling divorce cases. These lessons became even more real to me during my own personal divorce. Despite the fact I should have known better, I acted the same way everyone else does going through a divorce. Emotion is a very powerful force that causes normal people to do things they would have never dreamt of doing at any other time.

I truly empathize with people having to go through this traumatic process. They want to hire an attorney they can trust, but don’t know how to select one or even what to base their decisions upon. They don’t realize the gravity of what could really happen to them at the time so they choose attorneys based on factors that shouldn’t be their major concern like price, location, and convenience. They select attorneys like they are looking for a supermarket or a dry cleaner.

Clients usually don’t take the process as seriously as they should until it’s too late, such as when something very important to them is about to be lost. And when the case does not get over as quickly as they expected and/or is costing them more than they thought, they start taking advice from people who are not qualified to do so, like friends and family whose only claim to expertise is that they had a divorce, or knew somebody who had a divorce. They become disillusioned and start switching attorneys which only increases the length of the case and their cost because the new attorney has to learn the case all over again.

If you want to avoid a lot of the trauma and the expensive mistakes that almost everyone makes in a divorce, you need to hire a very competent attorney to help you, not just a decent one. Put a lot of effort into choosing your lawyer. And once you do, listen carefully to what they have to say, make sure you understand what they recommend, and follow their advice closely. No matter what, take the process seriously. Don’t put yourself into a position where you allow your emotions to make your decisions and seriously prejudice yourself. You will regret your bad decisions long after the case is over.