A family lawyer can handle a wide range of cases related to marriage or divorce proceedings, child custody suits, adoptions, and criminal domestic violence disputes. Finding the right attorney can be tough unless you know what type of legal representation you need and their level of experience working with a case like yours.

That’s why finding the best family lawyer in your area can be a challenge. It requires a considerable amount of research on your part before your proceedings can commence. There are hundreds of lawyers out there, not all of them are best suited for your needs either. It’s up to you to think about the legal issue you’re trying to solve and then tracking down the best person for the job.

So how does one choose a divorce lawyer or adoption attorney? We’re going to walk you through the basics:

Competency for Your Case

There are plenty of attorneys practicing family law chesterfield so choosing the best is going to depend solely on why you’re going to court. Filing a divorce, signing a prenuptial agreement, fighting an ex-spouse for custody, certain lawyers specialize in certain types of cases and the various conditions that come with them.

Some cases can become more contentious than others and if you expect there to be significant conflict in your legal proceeding, you want your representation to act as a competent mediator to serve your best interests.

You may decide you wish to represent yourself in your case but merely want a consultant to support you from the sidelines. There are lawyers who are willing to work with you in that capacity as well.

Consultation

Once you’ve decided what it is your family lawyer will be doing for you, it’s time to sit down with a few of them and discuss the key factors that will play into the decision-making process. This is the stage where you should be asking a lot of questions and considering whether or not you like the answers.

Experience and expertise are critical in your search for the right individual so you need to find out the extent of each for whomever you’re considering. You should also ask about the case you have and how many your prospective attorney has handled before. Will he or she be handling the proceedings or will there be others in the law office doing that work instead? Of course, there is also the matter of payment.

That last matter can also become rather tricky as it seems that lawyers can find a million ways to charge you for their services. Depending on the case and the required services necessary to take it on, your lawyer may need to perform a variety of duties for which he or she can charge you large sums of money.

This pertains to the location of your attorney, finding someone “in your area” not only makes it convenient for you to meet with the lawyer but it cuts down on travel time for your lawyer to make appearances in court. You could be charged for the time needed to travel to and from the courthouse.

Comfort Level

Your attorney is there to represent you and your interests. He or she is someone with whom you will be working closely and you need to be able to feel comfortable working with that person.

So when you are in the initial consultation asking the all-important questions about your case and the attorney’s ability to handle it, consider the answers that are being given and your level of comfort in the content and the ways in which he or she is speaking to you.

Does your attorney seem gruff or polished? Eloquent or poorly spoken? What kind of reaction do you elicit when you express yourself in consultation? Is he or she listening to you or are they doing all the talking, cutting you off in the process. These things may not seem important but they really are because, if you really sit and think about it, a lawyer’s main purpose is communication.

If he or she does a poor job at it, that lawyer will have a tough time convincing a judge or a jury to rule in your favor. So if you can’t ascertain what kind of qualities your lawyer offers in the courtroom that may not be the person you want on your side. This is why careful consideration and analysis must be made prior to starting your case.