January 7, 2025 • 30 mins
Are you going through a tough divorce and struggling to choose the right lawyer to represent you? Unlock the secrets to choosing the right divorce lawyer with insights from experienced Texas divorce attorneys on The Texas Family Lawyer Podcast.
In this episode, Hunt Law Firm attorneys Alex Hunt and David C. Adams guide you through the process of finding your perfect divorce lawyer match. From understanding your needs to researching and interviewing potential lawyers, we'll cover it all. By the end of this episode, you'll be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to find a Texas divorce lawyer who truly understands your situation and fights for your rights.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alex Hunt (00:09):
Hi everyone.
Welcome to the Texas FamilyLawyer podcast.
I'm Alex Hunt, a Texas familylawyer in the greater Houston
area.
I'm the managing attorney atHunt Law Firm and today I'm
joined by David C Adams.
He is the senior associateattorney and lead attorney at
our League City office.
Welcome, david.
David C. Adams (00:28):
Good morning, thank you.
Alex Hunt (00:29):
So today we're going to be talking about how to
choose the right divorce lawyer,and we have come up with nine
things that folks need toconsider, and you're an attorney
that cuts to the chase andjumps right in, so we're going
to do the same today, so I'llkick it over to you for the
first thing that folks need toconsider.
David C. Adams (00:48):
Well, I think one of the most important things
that people need to considerwhen they're trying to choose a
divorce lawyer is to think aboutwhat they want out of the
litigation.
You know, obviously a lot oftimes when people come to us,
especially if there's a divorceinvolved or when their children
are involved, Emotions can behigh.
I think you have to make adecision about are you really
(01:10):
seeking something likeretribution out of the process?
Do you want something that'squick and easy and as painless
as possible?
Because I found that when I doconsultations with clients, you
get very different answers evenearly on and in the process
about kind of what they'relooking for, and I think it can
be important to have thatconversation so that you can not
only manage their expectationsbut give the client what they
(01:33):
want.
Yeah, absolutely.
Alex Hunt (01:34):
And you know, we'll get folks that come to our
office and they're looking fordifferent things.
So we'll have people that willcome and they'll say I want a
shark, I want a bulldog.
And you know, I hear that and Ihear what they're looking for.
They want somebody thatrepresents their interests.
If they're looking for somebodywho is just going to drive up
(01:55):
costs, that's going to makethings contentious and litigious
for absolutely no reason, thenI'll tell them I mean, I'm not
your guy, but you, most folkswhat they're looking for is
somebody who is solutionsoriented, and so what we do is
(02:18):
make sure that we are solutionsoriented.
We're looking for the path ofleast resistance in order to get
the relief that the person islooking for.
But if push comes to shove andwe go to mediation and we're
unable to settle and it's timeto go to trial, we're going to
be ready and I think that that'sthe most important thing that
you could look for in a lawyeror somebody who's going to
represent your interests, isgoing to fight for you, is going
(02:38):
to protect you, is going totake the path of least
resistance, is not going to tryto run up your bill.
But when push comes to shoveand it's like we have no other
choice but to go to trial.
They're going to be ready.
David C. Adams (02:52):
Absolutely.
You know, I think it's.
I think a good word to thinkabout when you are choosing a
lawyer is about how pragmaticare they right?
I mean it shouldn't be aboutthe lawyer's ego, and it really,
in a lot of mean, it shouldn'tbe about the lawyer's ego and it
really, in a lot of ways,probably shouldn't be about the
clients either.
It should be about having aclear set of goals, whether
(03:13):
that's to keep costs down, orwhether that's to say, try to
get a bigger property divisionin the other side, or maybe,
like in a lot of cases, maybeit's about the kids and what
kind of custody schedule you'relooking for.
Alex Hunt (03:24):
and who's going to make?
David C. Adams (03:25):
important decisions for them, and so I
think those are important thingsto establish, especially early
on in the process when you aretalking to a lawyer and thinking
about what kind of lawyer youwant to know what it is that you
really want out of the process.
Alex Hunt (03:40):
And when it comes time to determine your trial
strategy and that's notsomething necessarily that you
can get from the lawyer from theoutset in the consultation the
lawyer needs to know the case,they need to learn about you,
they need to learn about thefacts, they need to hear what
the other side is going to say.
But when it comes time for trialprep, it's important that the
(04:01):
lawyer is able to lay out anumber of different paths that
the case can take.
And so maybe that's a silverplan, a gold plan, a platinum
plan.
Maybe in the platinum planyou're deposing witnesses and
you're subpoenaing records andyou're going all in on discovery
disputes.
The silver plan might be ifsomebody knows that they have a
(04:23):
smaller estate or they're.
The silver plan might be ifsomebody knows that they have a
smaller estate or they'reparticularly averse to you know
litigation and they don't.
They really don't want to be incourt.
They know that.
You know, try to limit theamount of times that we're going
to be going in for discoverydisputes.
I maybe don't have the moneythat I would need to do a
(04:44):
deposition.
A good lawyer is going to beable to explain those different
paths and how it's going to beable to impact how it's going to
impact your case.
David C. Adams (04:52):
You're exactly right about that.
An oral deposition is a greatexample of something that is
probably always going to be inthe platinum plan in terms of
getting prepared for trial, likeyou said, discovery issues and
maybe subpoenaing records.
I would also say witnesspreparation, right, I mean, if
you want to be really, reallyprepared for trial, you probably
want to sit down with yourclient who's going to arguably
(05:13):
be the star witness a time ortwo before trial.
And maybe in other cases theclient says look, we've got to
do this.
I know I got to testify, but Idon't want to spend 10, 12, 15
hours practicing beforehandbecause I just don't have the
money for it.
But you're right, you do haveto lay out those different
options for the client and thenlet them choose.
(05:33):
I think, when talking about howto choose the right lawyer, I
think there's probably a lot oflawyers that don't lay out those
options as clearly for theclients and probably make them
feel like you got to choose this, you got to choose that and
unfortunately, as we both know,there's a lot of lawyers out
there who will sell the platinumplan as the only way because
(05:54):
that means a fatter bottom linefor them.
Alex Hunt (05:56):
Well, sure, and there are folks out there that don't
have the funds or don't wish tospend the funds for the platinum
plan.
They don't want to do a wholebunch of depositions or they
can't do a whole bunch ofdepositions, and those folks
deserve lawyers too, and so ifthere's a lower cost option
that's still going to ensurethat they're represented and
their interests are protected,then they deserve to hear about
(06:17):
that.
So let me get into the secondtip for how to choose the right
divorce lawyer, and that's aboutavailability and responsiveness
.
For how to choose the rightdivorce lawyer, and that's about
availability and responsiveness.
The number one complaint thatthe ethical body, that
disciplinary body that overseeslawyers in Texas, the number one
complaint that they get is thattheir lawyer is not responsive.
(06:38):
Their lawyer is not available.
So when you're looking for alawyer, you want to see somebody
that has you know, that isquick to respond to you,
somebody that can makeguarantees.
In our office, we guarantee thatwe're going to get your
response within 24 hours.
A lot of lawyers, especiallyclients that come to us and
they're on their maybe theirsecond or their third lawyer,
(07:00):
they'll be surprised when theyget a response from us within 24
hours or less.
Most of the time, we're able toget to people the same day,
because they're used to theirlawyer taking several days or a
week to get back to them.
That shouldn't be the case.
We understand that this is themost important thing that is
(07:20):
happening in our clients' lives.
At this particular time.
You're going through a divorce,you're splitting up assets, you
don't know what's going tohappen with your kids, and you
need to have access to theperson that's supposed to be
supporting you through that, andso it's important to ask
questions about you know, whatis the response time that I can
expect from you?
(07:41):
I know that you're a triallawyer, I know that you're in
court all the time, but how canyou ensure that my inquiries are
going to be answered?
And part of that is what does aperson's team look like?
Do they have a paralegal behindthem?
Do they have other attorneys inthe office?
What's the best way to contactthem Email, phone, in-person
(08:03):
meetings, to contact them email,phone, in-person meetings.
Ask those questions from theoutset, because what you don't
want to do is, you know, putdown a big retainer, engage in
the process, and then you try tocall your lawyer on Monday, and
it's Wednesday and you'relooking at your watch and saying
where is my lawyer.
Can't they at least tell methey?
I'm in court, I can't get backto you.
(08:24):
So that's especially importantin our office is getting back to
our clients timely.
David C. Adams (08:29):
Absolutely, and I think you said it well.
You know, a lot of that isabout the support staff that you
have around you.
I mean, if you're a litigatorand you're in mediation one day
all day and the next day you'rein court all day, it's going to
be next to impossible for you topersonally answer every
question or every need that aclient might have on another
case when you're doing thosethings.
(08:50):
But that's why you needtrustworthy and knowledgeable
support staff who can reach out.
At least let them know.
Hey, you know the lawyer's busytoday.
He's got X, y and Z going on.
Here's, here's what I know,here's what I can tell you,
here's where we're at with yourcase and they'll get back to you
.
I think in a lot of those casesyou know, it's really just about
letting people know that youhaven't forgotten about them,
(09:12):
that they're still important.
And I think not only is thatabout staff, but I also think
it's about the process.
I mean, some people have theirworkflow set up in such a way so
that they can get to those,they can get to all those emails
and they can get to all thosecommunications on a regular
basis, so that everybody getstouched and feels important, as
(09:33):
opposed to only prioritizing thethings that are you know right
on the eve of a trial or righton the eve of a mediation.
And so I think that workflow andpriorities is important.
Alex Hunt (09:44):
Right, a hundred percent, and there's going to be
other things that take up yourlawyer's time.
When you're in court, you wantyour lawyer to be dedicated to
you.
You don't want them answering awhole bunch of emails and phone
calls from other people.
So you have to understand.
We are trial lawyers and theremight be a little bit of a delay
, but you don't want days orweeks to go by.
Number three honesty.
(10:06):
There are honest lawyers, tellus a little bit about that.
David C. Adams (10:11):
I think honesty is important.
I think I think honesty for alawyer can kind of come out in a
couple of different ways.
I think one of the ways that itcomes out is I think you want a
lawyer who's going to be honestwith you about your case.
I mean, is you know, one of thesome of the most difficult
conversations that I have tohave with a client is to say hey
, I hear the concern that you'reexpressing, but I think if we
(10:34):
take that and we air that out incourt, I don't know how
successful that that's reallygoing to be.
And that's a hard conversationto have.
People often don't necessarilywant to hear that.
There are lawyers I know outthere because I will encounter
them on the other sides of mycases who that they're justified
and that it's a winner.
And it seems obvious to me thatnobody must have had that hard
(10:56):
conversation with them and Iguess if you're their lawyer,
it's not your life, it's notyour kids, it's not your
marriage.
So if it's not a winner,they're probably going to get
(11:18):
paid either way.
But that's why, to me, I thinkit's important to have that
honest conversation with aclient about the things that
they might want to pursue or thenarrative that they might want
to tell in court and what youthink their legitimate chances
are, what you think thelegitimate outcomes might be.
Alex Hunt (11:37):
And sometimes it's just about taking a look at the
system that is set up and that'sa conversation for another
podcast is there are certainlythings in the Texas family law
system that I disagree with andI think should be changed.
But I'm not a legislator, I'm alawyer, and so our job is to be
brokers within the system thatwe have trained and experienced
(12:02):
throughout our time as a lawyerand we've learned how to paint a
picture for a judge or a jury,and there will be times when
there are facts and there arestories that we become aware of
(12:22):
about our client circumstances,and there are stories that we
become aware of about our clientcircumstances and we have to
tell them.
I believe you, but the judge isgoing to have this case for
maybe four hours, or a jury isgoing to play, well, and it's
just the way that it is.
Or, you know, if it's childsupport, we're subject to child
(12:42):
support calculations and folksjust say, well, the other side
makes a whole bunch of money.
Well, this is the system thatwe have.
I'm not in the business ofbeing a policymaker.
I have to live within thesystem that we have.
David C. Adams (13:04):
I can navigate it and I can guide you through
it, and I can get you the bestpossible result.
Alex Hunt (13:06):
So it's being honest about what the constraints of
the system are and how we cannavigate within it.
That's absolutely right.
So number four is the teamapproach and this.
We spoke about this a littlebit on availability and
responsiveness, but it's soimportant that I wanted to touch
on it because a lot of timeswe'll go up against folks that
are solo attorneys and we willhave a trial that will maybe be
a week or two and I see the soloattorneys struggling to keep up
(13:30):
because they might have 30, 40,50 other cases and they're
having to decide.
Am I going to focus on theother cases and the clients that
are not stopping emailing me,not stopping calling me their
lives are not stopping whenthey're in a trial or do they
focus on the task at hand, whichis the person that's sitting
(13:52):
next to them at the counciltable in the middle of a trial,
and it's moments like that whenit's important to decide.
Am I okay with having a soloattorney, understanding that
there's going to be some delayand there might be some times
when my case moves to the backburner, or you want a team
approach where you know thatyou're always going to get the
attention that your casedeserves.
(14:13):
And so, at Hell Law F of times,that's what we've tried to
build, and we've got 10attorneys.
So, david, if you're in trial,you've got an associate attorney
, kay Rush, who will step in andcan answer questions and can
provide legal guidance.
And if, say, you and Kay areboth in litigation or you're
(14:34):
both indisposed, then you've gotan attorney, misty Patel, who
will be able to provide ananswer if she can or can guide
that question to another of theten attorneys that are in our
office.
David C. Adams (14:48):
Right, you make a great point and the bottom
line with that is that whenyou're at a firm that has
multiple lawyers and manydifferent support staff, you
just you got more resources sothat if there's an issue I mean
most cases, most cases don'tactually go to trial, but when
they do, you need all hands ondeck and you need you want your
(15:09):
the lead litigator on that caseto really be able to focus,
which means sometimes you needother people to be able to step
in and fill in those gaps.
When those things do happen,and when you have more resources
, like we do, it's a lot easierfor us to do that than it is for
a solo practitioner.
Alex Hunt (15:23):
Well, just think about the amount of times that
on our internal messaging systemwill go and pop in and we've
got, you know, all of theattorneys, all the support staff
on a messaging board and we cansay has anybody been in this
court?
Do you know how the judge isgoing to react to this situation
(15:43):
?
Has anybody seen this before incourt?
You've got a variety ofdifferent experiences, folks
that have had different clientsin different situations, and
that is absolutely invaluablebecause more often than not,
we're not seeing something forthe first time.
If we ask about a particularsituation, we think that it's
(16:04):
this novel idea.
We can usually go and talk toone of our colleagues and say,
yeah, I was last week, I wasjust in that court and I had
that exact situation and this ishow the court ruled on it, and
so if it's an unfavorable ruling, we'll know how to adjust our
strategy.
So, having a team approach Ican't stress enough just how
important that is.
David C. Adams (16:22):
Yeah, the intelligence and the information
sharing that you can do in thatenvironment, it really does
make a difference.
Alex Hunt (16:29):
All right.
Tip number five for how tochoose the right divorce lawyer,
david, is communication andcompatibility with your lawyer.
David C. Adams (16:36):
The right divorce lawyer, David, is
communication and compatibilitywith your lawyer.
Yeah, you know, I think it'sreally important when you do go
to sit down with a lawyer thatyou think about kind of how they
communicate, what theircommunication style is, maybe
even a little bit theirpersonality and what yours is.
You know, if your lawyer is thehang them high, if your lawyer
(17:01):
is the hang them high, scorchedearth type approach and that's
maybe they have a little bitmore of an aggressive
communication style, you knowthat's probably not going to
work for you.
If you're somebody that's moreof a compromise type of a person
, and while you may think youknow, because I'm that way, I
need somebody who's really goingto go in there and put the
hammer down, that makes somesense.
(17:21):
But I think that when you thinkabout how often long term, you
know a lot of times these cases,unless there's a settlement in
the works, I mean cases can goon for months, sometimes years,
can go on for months, sometimesyears.
And when they do, if therelationship between you and
your lawyer and the way you twolook at things and approach
things and kind of how youcommunicate, that, if they're
(17:43):
not to me more similar than theyare different.
That can create a lot ofopportunities for the two of you
to not communicate effectively,to think that the outcome is
going to be this way or that way, when the other person's
thinking and preparing to do theopposite, and so I think people
ought to maybe more carefullythink about trying to find an
attorney that they think iscompetent but that probably is
(18:05):
more similar to them and maybehow they approach the world than
not.
Alex Hunt (18:10):
Absolutely.
Our next tip how to choose theright divorce lawyer is about
experience and specialization,and this, in particular, is one
of the reasons why at our firm,we specialize or we focus on
family law.
We have family law and we do alittle bit of estate planning as
(18:30):
a value-added service to ourclients, but I would tell folks
to avoid a jack-of-all-tradesperson that does criminal law,
that does immigration law.
They do family law, but it'sjust a small piece of what they
do.
There are so many intricaciesand nuances in family law and
(18:52):
within family law.
You've got divorce, custodyadoptions, name changes, suits
affecting the para-childrelationship, adjudications of
paternity.
There are specializationswithin family law.
So you want to have somebodythat day in and day out, knows
the family court system, knowsthe judges, knows the Texas
(19:15):
family code and doesn't have,isn't distracted by a criminal
case that pops up or animmigration law case.
You want somebody who knowsfamily law and can get deep into
the nuances of family law.
David C. Adams (19:30):
That's exactly right.
I mean just candidly.
Myself I've encountered veryfew lawyers that I know practice
in multiple areas that I feellike are really competent family
law attorneys.
It's not impossible, but Ithink the general rule, like you
just said, is it's just, it'shard.
There's a lot going on infamily law and I'm sure there's
(19:52):
a lot going on in the otherareas of the law, and just it
makes it really hard forsomebody to come in when you're
practicing all those differentthings and try to specialize and
I think you're exactly right.
And I do think one one thing toconsider when you do, when
you're thinking about how tofind the right attorney for you,
is to maybe think about what'smore important in your case.
(20:13):
Not every case will have it,but many cases, especially
divorce cases, are going to havea property element, right, how
do we divide the communityestate?
And then there's going to be anelement about custody if
children are involved, and a lotof times those two areas are
very different and especially ifit's a complex community estate
, the lawyers that specialize inthat area versus the lawyers
(20:35):
who specialize in contestedchild custody issues are also
somewhat different, and so youmight want to think about which
thing do, I think is morecomplicated.
And that's a good conversationto have with your potential
lawyer when you meet with them,right?
And that's a good conversationto have with your potential
lawyer when you meet with them,right, if you?
don't know which one is morecomplicated, but maybe to try to
ask questions, try to figurethat out, because I do think
(20:57):
that those, those two areas ofthe family law can be very
different and are important Ifyou have a complex property case
or if you have a complexcustody case to make sure you
find a family lawyer who's veryproficient in that particular
area.
Alex Hunt (21:14):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think it's important when
you're talking about the rightexperience within family laws,
you want somebody that alsoknows what it's like to be in
court, knows how to be effectivein court, knows how to run a
trial from start to finish andknows how to win that trial.
You don't want to have a lawyerthat, although all they do is
family law, as soon as they getinto the courtroom they're like
a fish out of water.
You want somebody with someexperience actually leading and
(21:37):
winning a custody case, aproperty case, whatever it is.
It's going to be the main cruxof your divorce case.
You want to have somebody withexperience in those areas.
David C. Adams (21:48):
That's absolutely right.
There are lawyers out there whowill take in cases and, because
most cases don't go to finaltrial, will take a case and as
soon as that case gets set forfinal trial, will essentially
break up with their client,withdraw and then pass that off
(22:09):
to somebody else because they'renot comfortable doing that kind
of work and that's notsomething they're going to tell
you in the consultation, butthat's definitely something that
you want to make sure that theattorney that you choose can do
that and go the distance if youneed it.
Alex Hunt (22:27):
Okay, Number seven we want to make sure that they're
financially a right fit.
How do you know if your lawyeris financially the right fit?
David C. Adams (22:38):
Well, I think one of the most important things
to framework question, tofigure out a couple of couple of
important things to know, isyou know what kind of, what kind
of retainer do they charge?
I think another important thingto know is what kind of hourly
rate do they charge, maybe?
Finally and our firm has aparticular way of billing not
all attorneys bill in the sameway.
Everybody usually bills on somesort of an hourly rate, but the
(23:01):
minute increments that you billin is different at different
firms.
I know that I've seen otherfirms where they bill in 0.25,
quarter hour increments.
So if they do five minutesworth of work on your case,
you're going to pay for 15minutes, no matter what.
That's not what our firm does.
We bill in smaller incrementsto try to make sure that we're
(23:22):
essentially billing for aslittle time over what we've
actually done as possible, sothat we can make sure that we
keep client bills down.
But I do think that that'simportant.
I will say one thing aboutretainers.
You know, I think it'simportant to ask an attorney how
much, how you know how muchthey charge in retainer.
I also think it's important toask them what they do with
retainers and what theirretainer policy is because I
(23:45):
know that I have clients whowill come to me who are
switching attorneys and they'lltell me hey, you know, I gave my
former lawyer $10,000 and I'mpretty sure they've only done,
giving me $5,000 worth of billsand work, but I'm not sure if
I'm able to get that money back,and that should never happen.
You definitely want to askabout that.
I might even ask the questionyou know, hey, if how often do
(24:09):
you give money back to yourclients or former clients at the
end of a case?
Alex Hunt (24:15):
Yeah, if somebody says that they do a
non-refundable deposit, whichmeans you give them $10,000 and
the next day you fire them, oryou say I want my money back,
and they say, nope, sorry, I getto keep your $10,000 even
though it did no work.
David C. Adams (24:28):
Run as fast as possible.
Alex Hunt (24:33):
Absolutely.
I get to keep your $10,000 eventhough I did no work run as
fast as possible.
Next up, number eight the nexttip for how to choose the right
divorce lawyer is reputation,and there's a number of
different ways, and we're goingto have a part two in a few
months.
We're going to come back.
We're going to talk about theright questions to ask in your
initial consultation.
I think that's one way tofigure out the reputation of the
person right questions to askin your initial consultation.
I think that's one way tofigure out the reputation of the
person is just to ask whatorganizations they're part of,
(24:56):
how long they've been doingfamily law, how many cases
they've done, how many casesthey've done in the particular
county in which your case is in.
But there's things that you cando even before the initial
consultation.
You can go and look at thereviews of the firm.
You can see what other clientshave said.
You can look at the person'sonline presence.
(25:19):
In addition to websites, thereare a lot of aggregators out
there Justia and Avo where youcan not only see reviews from
clients, but you can seeorganizations that the person is
part of.
You can see their educationalhistory.
Do some due diligence on theperson that you're about to sit
down with and say who is thisperson that's sitting across the
table from me and what is theirreputation like in the
(25:41):
community, and then, if you knowother lawyers whether they be
family lawyers or not it'sentirely possible that they know
somebody, or they know somebodywho knows somebody that knows
that lawyer and can give you anidea about whether that is
somebody that has a reputationas a good trial lawyer, as an
(26:02):
honest lawyer and as somebodywho's respected within the
community.
David C. Adams (26:07):
Absolutely.
I couldn't agree more witheverything you just said and I
would also maybe add, I think,an interesting question I've
been asked a few times inconsultations and to ask a
lawyer that you're trying tofigure out what their reputation
is to say what do you thinkother lawyers who have you as
opposing counsel, what wouldthey say about you?
Because I think, while you know, you got to take that with a
(26:29):
grain of salt, but I think mostlawyers would probably answer
that question pretty quickly andprobably fairly honestly with
what they think other peoplewould say, and I think that
could tell you a lot.
Alex Hunt (26:39):
Sure, and for me, if it was me that was looking for a
divorce lawyer, I would want toknow does this person know the
particular court that my casemight land in?
Does this person know theparticular court that my case
might land in?
Do they know the judges?
And I don't mean, are theyhaving coffee in the judges'
chambers every Friday oranything like that, oh, that
would be good, sure, I mean, dothey know this judge?
(27:02):
Do they have a relationshipwith this judge in the courtroom
or outside the courtroom?
Do they see them at barassociation events and do they
know what this judge likes inthe courtroom?
Do they see them at barassociation events and do they
know what this judge likes inthe courtroom?
Do they know what this judgedoesn't like in the courtroom
and do they know how this judgerules on important issues that
are going to affect my case?
Because if they do, then that'sgoing to help tailor their
(27:24):
approach to your particular case.
If they don't, they're goinginto that courtroom a completely
blank slate and they have noway of knowing the way that
judge approaches cases at all.
Is this going to be anaggressive judge?
Is this going to be a judgethat likes to really have ideas
thought out well, or is this ajudge that's going to say you
(27:45):
know, hey, I want an hour or twoon your case, no more, no less.
It's really important to knowthe particular judges.
The last tip that we have onhow to choose the right divorce
lawyer is about the approach ofthe lawyer and the strategy, and
we talked in show prep.
We don't necessarily know whena potential new client comes
(28:09):
into our office and we'resitting down with them for the
first time.
We might not know the strategy,but we should be able to ask
the right questions and tailorour approach after getting some
of that information.
Give them a little bit of ataste of where we might be going
.
David C. Adams (28:26):
That's exactly right.
I like to say it.
I feel like when I doconsultations and clients come
to me, it's an educationalprocess.
I'm the one who knows theprocess and I'm the one that
knows the different angles.
I may not know their story, butafter they give me some of the
facts, I should be able to.
I think you used the wordearlier, menu I should be able
(28:48):
to lay out a menu, differentpaths that we could go down to
try to help us formulate astrategy, and then let them know
hey, we could go down this path, we could go down that path, we
could pursue this argument orthat argument or this claim or
that claim and then try tofigure out where they're
comfortable, because, at the endof the day, it's their bunny,
it's their family.
(29:08):
It's their children, it's theirbunny, it's their family, it's
their children.
They're the ones that need tofeel comfortable and satisfied
at the end of this process, withall those special, intimate
things, and the only way I feellike you can hope to get to that
place is by educating them andempowering them with the
information that they need, thatthey don't have, about the
process and the strategies andthe paths, and if you can do
(29:32):
that, then you empower them tobe able to make a good choice
for themselves.
Alex Hunt (29:36):
Absolutely Well, david.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
This was really helpful and,like I mentioned earlier, we're
going to come back in a couplemonths to do part two, and
that's the questions that youshould be asking in and before
your initial consultation withyour divorce lawyer to find the
right fit.
Okay, great, my name is AlexHunt.
(29:57):
We were joined by David Adamsat Hunt Law Firm.
If you'd like to find us, youcan see our website at
familylawyerkadycom.
You can call our office at832-315-5494.
If you're watching this onYouTube, please like the video,
subscribe so you'll get ourfuture podcasts.
And if you're listening to thison Apple Podcasts or on Spotify
(30:20):
, please subscribe, follow us,give us five stars, we'd
appreciate it.
See you next time time.
Hi everyone.
Welcome to the Texas FamilyLawyer podcast.
I'm Alex Hunt, a Texas familylawyer in the greater Houston
area.
I'm the managing attorney atHunt Law Firm and today I'm
joined by David C Adams.
He is the senior associateattorney and lead attorney at
our League City office.
Welcome, david.
David C. Adams (00:28):
Good morning, thank you.
Alex Hunt (00:29):
So today we're going to be talking about how to
choose the right divorce lawyer,and we have come up with nine
things that folks need toconsider, and you're an attorney
that cuts to the chase andjumps right in, so we're going
to do the same today, so I'llkick it over to you for the
first thing that folks need toconsider.
David C. Adams (00:48):
Well, I think one of the most important things
that people need to considerwhen they're trying to choose a
divorce lawyer is to think aboutwhat they want out of the
litigation.
You know, obviously a lot oftimes when people come to us,
especially if there's a divorceinvolved or when their children
are involved, Emotions can behigh.
I think you have to make adecision about are you really
(01:10):
seeking something likeretribution out of the process?
Do you want something that'squick and easy and as painless
as possible?
Because I found that when I doconsultations with clients, you
get very different answers evenearly on and in the process
about kind of what they'relooking for, and I think it can
be important to have thatconversation so that you can not
only manage their expectationsbut give the client what they
(01:33):
want.
Yeah, absolutely.
Alex Hunt (01:34):
And you know, we'll get folks that come to our
office and they're looking fordifferent things.
So we'll have people that willcome and they'll say I want a
shark, I want a bulldog.
And you know, I hear that and Ihear what they're looking for.
They want somebody thatrepresents their interests.
If they're looking for somebodywho is just going to drive up
(01:55):
costs, that's going to makethings contentious and litigious
for absolutely no reason, thenI'll tell them I mean, I'm not
your guy, but you, most folkswhat they're looking for is
somebody who is solutionsoriented, and so what we do is
(02:18):
make sure that we are solutionsoriented.
We're looking for the path ofleast resistance in order to get
the relief that the person islooking for.
But if push comes to shove andwe go to mediation and we're
unable to settle and it's timeto go to trial, we're going to
be ready and I think that that'sthe most important thing that
you could look for in a lawyeror somebody who's going to
represent your interests, isgoing to fight for you, is going
(02:38):
to protect you, is going totake the path of least
resistance, is not going to tryto run up your bill.
But when push comes to shoveand it's like we have no other
choice but to go to trial.
They're going to be ready.
David C. Adams (02:52):
Absolutely.
You know, I think it's.
I think a good word to thinkabout when you are choosing a
lawyer is about how pragmaticare they right?
I mean it shouldn't be aboutthe lawyer's ego, and it really,
in a lot of mean, it shouldn'tbe about the lawyer's ego and it
really, in a lot of ways,probably shouldn't be about the
clients either.
It should be about having aclear set of goals, whether
(03:13):
that's to keep costs down, orwhether that's to say, try to
get a bigger property divisionin the other side, or maybe,
like in a lot of cases, maybeit's about the kids and what
kind of custody schedule you'relooking for.
Alex Hunt (03:24):
and who's going to make?
David C. Adams (03:25):
important decisions for them, and so I
think those are important thingsto establish, especially early
on in the process when you aretalking to a lawyer and thinking
about what kind of lawyer youwant to know what it is that you
really want out of the process.
Alex Hunt (03:40):
And when it comes time to determine your trial
strategy and that's notsomething necessarily that you
can get from the lawyer from theoutset in the consultation the
lawyer needs to know the case,they need to learn about you,
they need to learn about thefacts, they need to hear what
the other side is going to say.
But when it comes time for trialprep, it's important that the
(04:01):
lawyer is able to lay out anumber of different paths that
the case can take.
And so maybe that's a silverplan, a gold plan, a platinum
plan.
Maybe in the platinum planyou're deposing witnesses and
you're subpoenaing records andyou're going all in on discovery
disputes.
The silver plan might be ifsomebody knows that they have a
(04:23):
smaller estate or they're.
The silver plan might be ifsomebody knows that they have a
smaller estate or they'reparticularly averse to you know
litigation and they don't.
They really don't want to be incourt.
They know that.
You know, try to limit theamount of times that we're going
to be going in for discoverydisputes.
I maybe don't have the moneythat I would need to do a
(04:44):
deposition.
A good lawyer is going to beable to explain those different
paths and how it's going to beable to impact how it's going to
impact your case.
David C. Adams (04:52):
You're exactly right about that.
An oral deposition is a greatexample of something that is
probably always going to be inthe platinum plan in terms of
getting prepared for trial, likeyou said, discovery issues and
maybe subpoenaing records.
I would also say witnesspreparation, right, I mean, if
you want to be really, reallyprepared for trial, you probably
want to sit down with yourclient who's going to arguably
(05:13):
be the star witness a time ortwo before trial.
And maybe in other cases theclient says look, we've got to
do this.
I know I got to testify, but Idon't want to spend 10, 12, 15
hours practicing beforehandbecause I just don't have the
money for it.
But you're right, you do haveto lay out those different
options for the client and thenlet them choose.
(05:33):
I think, when talking about howto choose the right lawyer, I
think there's probably a lot oflawyers that don't lay out those
options as clearly for theclients and probably make them
feel like you got to choose this, you got to choose that and
unfortunately, as we both know,there's a lot of lawyers out
there who will sell the platinumplan as the only way because
(05:54):
that means a fatter bottom linefor them.
Alex Hunt (05:56):
Well, sure, and there are folks out there that don't
have the funds or don't wish tospend the funds for the platinum
plan.
They don't want to do a wholebunch of depositions or they
can't do a whole bunch ofdepositions, and those folks
deserve lawyers too, and so ifthere's a lower cost option
that's still going to ensurethat they're represented and
their interests are protected,then they deserve to hear about
(06:17):
that.
So let me get into the secondtip for how to choose the right
divorce lawyer, and that's aboutavailability and responsiveness
.
For how to choose the rightdivorce lawyer, and that's about
availability and responsiveness.
The number one complaint thatthe ethical body, that
disciplinary body that overseeslawyers in Texas, the number one
complaint that they get is thattheir lawyer is not responsive.
(06:38):
Their lawyer is not available.
So when you're looking for alawyer, you want to see somebody
that has you know, that isquick to respond to you,
somebody that can makeguarantees.
In our office, we guarantee thatwe're going to get your
response within 24 hours.
A lot of lawyers, especiallyclients that come to us and
they're on their maybe theirsecond or their third lawyer,
(07:00):
they'll be surprised when theyget a response from us within 24
hours or less.
Most of the time, we're able toget to people the same day,
because they're used to theirlawyer taking several days or a
week to get back to them.
That shouldn't be the case.
We understand that this is themost important thing that is
(07:20):
happening in our clients' lives.
At this particular time.
You're going through a divorce,you're splitting up assets, you
don't know what's going tohappen with your kids, and you
need to have access to theperson that's supposed to be
supporting you through that, andso it's important to ask
questions about you know, whatis the response time that I can
expect from you?
(07:41):
I know that you're a triallawyer, I know that you're in
court all the time, but how canyou ensure that my inquiries are
going to be answered?
And part of that is what does aperson's team look like?
Do they have a paralegal behindthem?
Do they have other attorneys inthe office?
What's the best way to contactthem Email, phone, in-person
(08:03):
meetings, to contact them email,phone, in-person meetings.
Ask those questions from theoutset, because what you don't
want to do is, you know, putdown a big retainer, engage in
the process, and then you try tocall your lawyer on Monday, and
it's Wednesday and you'relooking at your watch and saying
where is my lawyer.
Can't they at least tell methey?
I'm in court, I can't get backto you.
(08:24):
So that's especially importantin our office is getting back to
our clients timely.
David C. Adams (08:29):
Absolutely, and I think you said it well.
You know, a lot of that isabout the support staff that you
have around you.
I mean, if you're a litigatorand you're in mediation one day
all day and the next day you'rein court all day, it's going to
be next to impossible for you topersonally answer every
question or every need that aclient might have on another
case when you're doing thosethings.
(08:50):
But that's why you needtrustworthy and knowledgeable
support staff who can reach out.
At least let them know.
Hey, you know the lawyer's busytoday.
He's got X, y and Z going on.
Here's, here's what I know,here's what I can tell you,
here's where we're at with yourcase and they'll get back to you
.
I think in a lot of those casesyou know, it's really just about
letting people know that youhaven't forgotten about them,
(09:12):
that they're still important.
And I think not only is thatabout staff, but I also think
it's about the process.
I mean, some people have theirworkflow set up in such a way so
that they can get to those,they can get to all those emails
and they can get to all thosecommunications on a regular
basis, so that everybody getstouched and feels important, as
(09:33):
opposed to only prioritizing thethings that are you know right
on the eve of a trial or righton the eve of a mediation.
And so I think that workflow andpriorities is important.
Alex Hunt (09:44):
Right, a hundred percent, and there's going to be
other things that take up yourlawyer's time.
When you're in court, you wantyour lawyer to be dedicated to
you.
You don't want them answering awhole bunch of emails and phone
calls from other people.
So you have to understand.
We are trial lawyers and theremight be a little bit of a delay
, but you don't want days orweeks to go by.
Number three honesty.
(10:06):
There are honest lawyers, tellus a little bit about that.
David C. Adams (10:11):
I think honesty is important.
I think I think honesty for alawyer can kind of come out in a
couple of different ways.
I think one of the ways that itcomes out is I think you want a
lawyer who's going to be honestwith you about your case.
I mean, is you know, one of thesome of the most difficult
conversations that I have tohave with a client is to say hey
, I hear the concern that you'reexpressing, but I think if we
(10:34):
take that and we air that out incourt, I don't know how
successful that that's reallygoing to be.
And that's a hard conversationto have.
People often don't necessarilywant to hear that.
There are lawyers I know outthere because I will encounter
them on the other sides of mycases who that they're justified
and that it's a winner.
And it seems obvious to me thatnobody must have had that hard
(10:56):
conversation with them and Iguess if you're their lawyer,
it's not your life, it's notyour kids, it's not your
marriage.
So if it's not a winner,they're probably going to get
(11:18):
paid either way.
But that's why, to me, I thinkit's important to have that
honest conversation with aclient about the things that
they might want to pursue or thenarrative that they might want
to tell in court and what youthink their legitimate chances
are, what you think thelegitimate outcomes might be.
Alex Hunt (11:37):
And sometimes it's just about taking a look at the
system that is set up and that'sa conversation for another
podcast is there are certainlythings in the Texas family law
system that I disagree with andI think should be changed.
But I'm not a legislator, I'm alawyer, and so our job is to be
brokers within the system thatwe have trained and experienced
(12:02):
throughout our time as a lawyerand we've learned how to paint a
picture for a judge or a jury,and there will be times when
there are facts and there arestories that we become aware of
(12:22):
about our client circumstances,and there are stories that we
become aware of about our clientcircumstances and we have to
tell them.
I believe you, but the judge isgoing to have this case for
maybe four hours, or a jury isgoing to play, well, and it's
just the way that it is.
Or, you know, if it's childsupport, we're subject to child
(12:42):
support calculations and folksjust say, well, the other side
makes a whole bunch of money.
Well, this is the system thatwe have.
I'm not in the business ofbeing a policymaker.
I have to live within thesystem that we have.
David C. Adams (13:04):
I can navigate it and I can guide you through
it, and I can get you the bestpossible result.
Alex Hunt (13:06):
So it's being honest about what the constraints of
the system are and how we cannavigate within it.
That's absolutely right.
So number four is the teamapproach and this.
We spoke about this a littlebit on availability and
responsiveness, but it's soimportant that I wanted to touch
on it because a lot of timeswe'll go up against folks that
are solo attorneys and we willhave a trial that will maybe be
a week or two and I see the soloattorneys struggling to keep up
(13:30):
because they might have 30, 40,50 other cases and they're
having to decide.
Am I going to focus on theother cases and the clients that
are not stopping emailing me,not stopping calling me their
lives are not stopping whenthey're in a trial or do they
focus on the task at hand, whichis the person that's sitting
(13:52):
next to them at the counciltable in the middle of a trial,
and it's moments like that whenit's important to decide.
Am I okay with having a soloattorney, understanding that
there's going to be some delayand there might be some times
when my case moves to the backburner, or you want a team
approach where you know thatyou're always going to get the
attention that your casedeserves.
(14:13):
And so, at Hell Law F of times,that's what we've tried to
build, and we've got 10attorneys.
So, david, if you're in trial,you've got an associate attorney
, kay Rush, who will step in andcan answer questions and can
provide legal guidance.
And if, say, you and Kay areboth in litigation or you're
(14:34):
both indisposed, then you've gotan attorney, misty Patel, who
will be able to provide ananswer if she can or can guide
that question to another of theten attorneys that are in our
office.
David C. Adams (14:48):
Right, you make a great point and the bottom
line with that is that whenyou're at a firm that has
multiple lawyers and manydifferent support staff, you
just you got more resources sothat if there's an issue I mean
most cases, most cases don'tactually go to trial, but when
they do, you need all hands ondeck and you need you want your
(15:09):
the lead litigator on that caseto really be able to focus,
which means sometimes you needother people to be able to step
in and fill in those gaps.
When those things do happen,and when you have more resources
, like we do, it's a lot easierfor us to do that than it is for
a solo practitioner.
Alex Hunt (15:23):
Well, just think about the amount of times that
on our internal messaging systemwill go and pop in and we've
got, you know, all of theattorneys, all the support staff
on a messaging board and we cansay has anybody been in this
court?
Do you know how the judge isgoing to react to this situation
(15:43):
?
Has anybody seen this before incourt?
You've got a variety ofdifferent experiences, folks
that have had different clientsin different situations, and
that is absolutely invaluablebecause more often than not,
we're not seeing something forthe first time.
If we ask about a particularsituation, we think that it's
(16:04):
this novel idea.
We can usually go and talk toone of our colleagues and say,
yeah, I was last week, I wasjust in that court and I had
that exact situation and this ishow the court ruled on it, and
so if it's an unfavorable ruling, we'll know how to adjust our
strategy.
So, having a team approach Ican't stress enough just how
important that is.
David C. Adams (16:22):
Yeah, the intelligence and the information
sharing that you can do in thatenvironment, it really does
make a difference.
Alex Hunt (16:29):
All right.
Tip number five for how tochoose the right divorce lawyer,
david, is communication andcompatibility with your lawyer.
David C. Adams (16:36):
The right divorce lawyer, David, is
communication and compatibilitywith your lawyer.
Yeah, you know, I think it'sreally important when you do go
to sit down with a lawyer thatyou think about kind of how they
communicate, what theircommunication style is, maybe
even a little bit theirpersonality and what yours is.
You know, if your lawyer is thehang them high, if your lawyer
(17:01):
is the hang them high, scorchedearth type approach and that's
maybe they have a little bitmore of an aggressive
communication style, you knowthat's probably not going to
work for you.
If you're somebody that's moreof a compromise type of a person
, and while you may think youknow, because I'm that way, I
need somebody who's really goingto go in there and put the
hammer down, that makes somesense.
(17:21):
But I think that when you thinkabout how often long term, you
know a lot of times these cases,unless there's a settlement in
the works, I mean cases can goon for months, sometimes years,
can go on for months, sometimesyears.
And when they do, if therelationship between you and
your lawyer and the way you twolook at things and approach
things and kind of how youcommunicate, that, if they're
(17:43):
not to me more similar than theyare different.
That can create a lot ofopportunities for the two of you
to not communicate effectively,to think that the outcome is
going to be this way or that way, when the other person's
thinking and preparing to do theopposite, and so I think people
ought to maybe more carefullythink about trying to find an
attorney that they think iscompetent but that probably is
(18:05):
more similar to them and maybehow they approach the world than
not.
Alex Hunt (18:10):
Absolutely.
Our next tip how to choose theright divorce lawyer is about
experience and specialization,and this, in particular, is one
of the reasons why at our firm,we specialize or we focus on
family law.
We have family law and we do alittle bit of estate planning as
(18:30):
a value-added service to ourclients, but I would tell folks
to avoid a jack-of-all-tradesperson that does criminal law,
that does immigration law.
They do family law, but it'sjust a small piece of what they
do.
There are so many intricaciesand nuances in family law and
(18:52):
within family law.
You've got divorce, custodyadoptions, name changes, suits
affecting the para-childrelationship, adjudications of
paternity.
There are specializationswithin family law.
So you want to have somebodythat day in and day out, knows
the family court system, knowsthe judges, knows the Texas
(19:15):
family code and doesn't have,isn't distracted by a criminal
case that pops up or animmigration law case.
You want somebody who knowsfamily law and can get deep into
the nuances of family law.
David C. Adams (19:30):
That's exactly right.
I mean just candidly.
Myself I've encountered veryfew lawyers that I know practice
in multiple areas that I feellike are really competent family
law attorneys.
It's not impossible, but Ithink the general rule, like you
just said, is it's just, it'shard.
There's a lot going on infamily law and I'm sure there's
(19:52):
a lot going on in the otherareas of the law, and just it
makes it really hard forsomebody to come in when you're
practicing all those differentthings and try to specialize and
I think you're exactly right.
And I do think one one thing toconsider when you do, when
you're thinking about how tofind the right attorney for you,
is to maybe think about what'smore important in your case.
(20:13):
Not every case will have it,but many cases, especially
divorce cases, are going to havea property element, right, how
do we divide the communityestate?
And then there's going to be anelement about custody if
children are involved, and a lotof times those two areas are
very different and especially ifit's a complex community estate
, the lawyers that specialize inthat area versus the lawyers
(20:35):
who specialize in contestedchild custody issues are also
somewhat different, and so youmight want to think about which
thing do, I think is morecomplicated.
And that's a good conversationto have with your potential
lawyer when you meet with them,right?
And that's a good conversationto have with your potential
lawyer when you meet with them,right, if you?
don't know which one is morecomplicated, but maybe to try to
ask questions, try to figurethat out, because I do think
(20:57):
that those, those two areas ofthe family law can be very
different and are important Ifyou have a complex property case
or if you have a complexcustody case to make sure you
find a family lawyer who's veryproficient in that particular
area.
Alex Hunt (21:14):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think it's important when
you're talking about the rightexperience within family laws,
you want somebody that alsoknows what it's like to be in
court, knows how to be effectivein court, knows how to run a
trial from start to finish andknows how to win that trial.
You don't want to have a lawyerthat, although all they do is
family law, as soon as they getinto the courtroom they're like
a fish out of water.
You want somebody with someexperience actually leading and
(21:37):
winning a custody case, aproperty case, whatever it is.
It's going to be the main cruxof your divorce case.
You want to have somebody withexperience in those areas.
David C. Adams (21:48):
That's absolutely right.
There are lawyers out there whowill take in cases and, because
most cases don't go to finaltrial, will take a case and as
soon as that case gets set forfinal trial, will essentially
break up with their client,withdraw and then pass that off
(22:09):
to somebody else because they'renot comfortable doing that kind
of work and that's notsomething they're going to tell
you in the consultation, butthat's definitely something that
you want to make sure that theattorney that you choose can do
that and go the distance if youneed it.
Alex Hunt (22:27):
Okay, Number seven we want to make sure that they're
financially a right fit.
How do you know if your lawyeris financially the right fit?
David C. Adams (22:38):
Well, I think one of the most important things
to framework question, tofigure out a couple of couple of
important things to know, isyou know what kind of, what kind
of retainer do they charge?
I think another important thingto know is what kind of hourly
rate do they charge, maybe?
Finally and our firm has aparticular way of billing not
all attorneys bill in the sameway.
Everybody usually bills on somesort of an hourly rate, but the
(23:01):
minute increments that you billin is different at different
firms.
I know that I've seen otherfirms where they bill in 0.25,
quarter hour increments.
So if they do five minutesworth of work on your case,
you're going to pay for 15minutes, no matter what.
That's not what our firm does.
We bill in smaller incrementsto try to make sure that we're
(23:22):
essentially billing for aslittle time over what we've
actually done as possible, sothat we can make sure that we
keep client bills down.
But I do think that that'simportant.
I will say one thing aboutretainers.
You know, I think it'simportant to ask an attorney how
much, how you know how muchthey charge in retainer.
I also think it's important toask them what they do with
retainers and what theirretainer policy is because I
(23:45):
know that I have clients whowill come to me who are
switching attorneys and they'lltell me hey, you know, I gave my
former lawyer $10,000 and I'mpretty sure they've only done,
giving me $5,000 worth of billsand work, but I'm not sure if
I'm able to get that money back,and that should never happen.
You definitely want to askabout that.
I might even ask the questionyou know, hey, if how often do
(24:09):
you give money back to yourclients or former clients at the
end of a case?
Alex Hunt (24:15):
Yeah, if somebody says that they do a
non-refundable deposit, whichmeans you give them $10,000 and
the next day you fire them, oryou say I want my money back,
and they say, nope, sorry, I getto keep your $10,000 even
though it did no work.
David C. Adams (24:28):
Run as fast as possible.
Alex Hunt (24:33):
Absolutely.
I get to keep your $10,000 eventhough I did no work run as
fast as possible.
Next up, number eight the nexttip for how to choose the right
divorce lawyer is reputation,and there's a number of
different ways, and we're goingto have a part two in a few
months.
We're going to come back.
We're going to talk about theright questions to ask in your
initial consultation.
I think that's one way tofigure out the reputation of the
person right questions to askin your initial consultation.
I think that's one way tofigure out the reputation of the
person is just to ask whatorganizations they're part of,
(24:56):
how long they've been doingfamily law, how many cases
they've done, how many casesthey've done in the particular
county in which your case is in.
But there's things that you cando even before the initial
consultation.
You can go and look at thereviews of the firm.
You can see what other clientshave said.
You can look at the person'sonline presence.
(25:19):
In addition to websites, thereare a lot of aggregators out
there Justia and Avo where youcan not only see reviews from
clients, but you can seeorganizations that the person is
part of.
You can see their educationalhistory.
Do some due diligence on theperson that you're about to sit
down with and say who is thisperson that's sitting across the
table from me and what is theirreputation like in the
(25:41):
community, and then, if you knowother lawyers whether they be
family lawyers or not it'sentirely possible that they know
somebody, or they know somebodywho knows somebody that knows
that lawyer and can give you anidea about whether that is
somebody that has a reputationas a good trial lawyer, as an
(26:02):
honest lawyer and as somebodywho's respected within the
community.
David C. Adams (26:07):
Absolutely.
I couldn't agree more witheverything you just said and I
would also maybe add, I think,an interesting question I've
been asked a few times inconsultations and to ask a
lawyer that you're trying tofigure out what their reputation
is to say what do you thinkother lawyers who have you as
opposing counsel, what wouldthey say about you?
Because I think, while you know, you got to take that with a
(26:29):
grain of salt, but I think mostlawyers would probably answer
that question pretty quickly andprobably fairly honestly with
what they think other peoplewould say, and I think that
could tell you a lot.
Alex Hunt (26:39):
Sure, and for me, if it was me that was looking for a
divorce lawyer, I would want toknow does this person know the
particular court that my casemight land in?
Does this person know theparticular court that my case
might land in?
Do they know the judges?
And I don't mean, are theyhaving coffee in the judges'
chambers every Friday oranything like that, oh, that
would be good, sure, I mean, dothey know this judge?
(27:02):
Do they have a relationshipwith this judge in the courtroom
or outside the courtroom?
Do they see them at barassociation events and do they
know what this judge likes inthe courtroom?
Do they see them at barassociation events and do they
know what this judge likes inthe courtroom?
Do they know what this judgedoesn't like in the courtroom
and do they know how this judgerules on important issues that
are going to affect my case?
Because if they do, then that'sgoing to help tailor their
(27:24):
approach to your particular case.
If they don't, they're goinginto that courtroom a completely
blank slate and they have noway of knowing the way that
judge approaches cases at all.
Is this going to be anaggressive judge?
Is this going to be a judgethat likes to really have ideas
thought out well, or is this ajudge that's going to say you
(27:45):
know, hey, I want an hour or twoon your case, no more, no less.
It's really important to knowthe particular judges.
The last tip that we have onhow to choose the right divorce
lawyer is about the approach ofthe lawyer and the strategy, and
we talked in show prep.
We don't necessarily know whena potential new client comes
(28:09):
into our office and we'resitting down with them for the
first time.
We might not know the strategy,but we should be able to ask
the right questions and tailorour approach after getting some
of that information.
Give them a little bit of ataste of where we might be going
.
David C. Adams (28:26):
That's exactly right.
I like to say it.
I feel like when I doconsultations and clients come
to me, it's an educationalprocess.
I'm the one who knows theprocess and I'm the one that
knows the different angles.
I may not know their story, butafter they give me some of the
facts, I should be able to.
I think you used the wordearlier, menu I should be able
(28:48):
to lay out a menu, differentpaths that we could go down to
try to help us formulate astrategy, and then let them know
hey, we could go down this path, we could go down that path, we
could pursue this argument orthat argument or this claim or
that claim and then try tofigure out where they're
comfortable, because, at the endof the day, it's their bunny,
it's their family.
(29:08):
It's their children, it's theirbunny, it's their family, it's
their children.
They're the ones that need tofeel comfortable and satisfied
at the end of this process, withall those special, intimate
things, and the only way I feellike you can hope to get to that
place is by educating them andempowering them with the
information that they need, thatthey don't have, about the
process and the strategies andthe paths, and if you can do
(29:32):
that, then you empower them tobe able to make a good choice
for themselves.
Alex Hunt (29:36):
Absolutely Well, david.
Thank you so much for joiningus.
This was really helpful and,like I mentioned earlier, we're
going to come back in a couplemonths to do part two, and
that's the questions that youshould be asking in and before
your initial consultation withyour divorce lawyer to find the
right fit.
Okay, great, my name is AlexHunt.
(29:57):
We were joined by David Adamsat Hunt Law Firm.
If you'd like to find us, youcan see our website at
familylawyerkadycom.
You can call our office at832-315-5494.
If you're watching this onYouTube, please like the video,
subscribe so you'll get ourfuture podcasts.
And if you're listening to thison Apple Podcasts or on Spotify
(30:20):
, please subscribe, follow us,give us five stars, we'd
appreciate it.
See you next time time.
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