The selection of a divorce attorney is a critical decision-making process. The person you hire will be responsible for obtaining or maintaining your rights to custody of your children, your property interests, and depending on which side you are on, either minimizing or maximizing your rights to support.

In reality, selecting a divorce lawyer is also an incredibly stressful experience. Do it right and you can breathe easy. Get it wrong and you’ll spend years compensating for losses that could have been avoided.

There are some tried and true tactics to use when selecting a divorce attorney. Before you even begin, you need to identify the type of case you will be involved with. Are you going to mediate your divorce? Will you be negotiating? Or, will your case be one of those cases that goes to court and turns into a lengthy divorce lawsuit?

There are divorce lawyers who specialize in these different types of cases, and you need to hire the type of divorce lawyer who is best suited for the type of case you have. If you need to deal with lengthy litigation, you don’t want a mediation lawyer trying to protect your interests. Likewise, if you are going through mediation, the last thing you want is a divorce lawyer trying to create trouble and get you into litigation.

So the first step in the process of selecting a divorce lawyer is to identify the type of case you have. She then starts asking people for help. Since the divorce rate in the United States is around 50%, it is likely that she knows at least several people who have been divorced. Ask about their process, how they selected a divorce

attorney, and how their attorney performed for them.

After you’ve gotten the names of several divorce attorneys you’ve received by asking other people, go online and start researching those attorneys and others. Many divorce lawyers have websites, write articles and advertise on divorce portal websites. You can learn quite a bit about how a lawyer handles cases and treats clients by checking out their website.

After you’ve reviewed divorce attorney websites, make a list of at least two and up to five divorce attorneys that you think you’d be comfortable speaking with. Call the offices of those divorce attorneys and schedule consultations. Some of those attorneys will charge you for a consultation; the more experience the lawyer has, the more likely you will have to pay for time with that lawyer.

When you attend a consultation with a divorce attorney, be prepared. Outline the history of your marriage and the problems you are facing now. If you or your spouse have filed papers with the court, be sure to bring them with you. Bring one or two years old tax returns or a recent financial statement so the divorce lawyer can review some of your financial data before they ask questions about the “results.”

Be sure to ask each divorce attorney questions about how that attorney’s office operates in response to phone calls, emails, or other client inquiries or needs. If you are going to work with a divorce attorney who does not have another attorney in their office, be prepared to stand in line when you need an answer. That attorney will have other clients who have needs as significant as yours, and an attorney can only serve one client at a time. Even with that drawback, there may be a divorce attorney that you feel is the right one for you who is also an independent attorney. That’s a tradeoff you may have to get comfortable with.

After you have completed all of your inquiries and reviewed the answers to all of your questions, decide which divorce lawyer you felt most comfortable with and which one you believe will work with you to get the kind of results you want.results you want.