the Price of a Divorce Lawyer

My divorce was difficult emotionally and legally because we had a fair amount of assets to divide and we were not on good terms as we went through the process, so I needed an experienced divorce lawyer to handle the case. My lawyer charged $2000 as a flat fee to do the early work, and then charged $210 per hour for an additional 22 hours of time, plus I had to pay $1086 for costs and fees related to filing certain documents and for copies of transcripts and other papers. The total amount that I paid him was $7706 through the end of the matter.

I was generally satisfied with the services of my lawyer and his staff because they got me through the process in about four months and kept me focused on the end result instead of getting dragged into arguments with my ex-spouse. They spent a lot of time to make sure that our assets were divided fairly and we had some big ticket items like a home, cars, investments and furniture. The final distribution was mostly fair and I was glad that it was over pretty quickly. The lawyer made sure that I knew what he was doing and reminded me of court dates and things that I needed to do to help the case, so I appreciated their help in that way. The total cost of the legal services was close to the initial estimate and I feel that it was fair and reasonable for the work they did.

I guess talking to a few lawyers before picking one to represent you is the best tip that I can give someone. You need to be comfortable with the attorney and his/her style and approach to divorce cases because they are handling something that is very important to you and is taking place during an emotional and hard time in your life.