Top 5 Tips for Minimizing Your Legal Fees in a Domestic Relations Case
Need an attorney to help with your domestic relations case, but are worried about how much it will cost? You're not alone. Legal fees can quickly become very expensive. Here are 5 surefire ways to help you keep your legal costs down.
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1. Organization
One of the best ways to decrease your legal expenses is to be organized. Always have your documentation in order. Put documentation in chronological order. Tab or notate the documents so it's easy for the attorney or paralegal to find what they're looking for. You also need to organize your thoughts. The less organization you have, the more organizing the legal professional needs to undertake. This takes time and time means money. -
2. Communication
Get to the point and be judicial with your direct communications with the legal professional. If you get to the point quickly, the legal professional can always ask you more questions to clarify the point. Often times clients get bogged down by irrelevant detail. That's not to mean its not important information, however what is legally relevant is ofter times very different from what is emotionally relevant. Also remember that less is more. Leave one long voice mail or write a long email rather than sending numerous messages throughout the day. Again, the legal professional can always ask follow up questions. Domestic relations matters are billed by the hour. Most firms divide their time into tenths of an hour. So every 6 minutes, your cost goes up. If an attorney for example receives 8 emails from you at varying points throughout the day, you could be billed for the review of each individual email. If this happens frequently, your bill can go up hundreds and even thousands of dollars due to the extra communications. To avoid this pitfall, keep a notepad and write down all the questions you have or things that you want to tell the legal professional. Then convey them all in one email, phone call or meeting. It takes a legal professional a lot less time to read one long email than numerous short ones throughout the day. This is one of the easiest ways to lower your legal fees that many people don't think about. -
3. Paralegals Are Your Friends
Usually your attorney will have a paralegal. They are often at a far lower hourly rate than the attorney. They can't give legal advice, but they can be the sounding board for your legal issue, question or concern. Paralegals often time help with initial drafts or templates of documents as well as review of your financial disclosures. Utilizing the paralegal anytime they're able to help rather than direct contact with your attorney, saves you money due to the difference in rate between your attorney and the paralegal. -
4.Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
This one can be very difficult for clients since much of domestic relations law deals with emotional issues. Principle is important, but it gets clients into trouble. Often times the legal cost in addressing the small stuff is more than the benefit you're looking to achieve. On financial issues, remember that ultimately it's about the equitable distribution of your property, assets and debts. By the time you argue over the pots and pans, you could have repurchased a new set. -
5.Do Your Research
When looking for an attorney, there are many options to choose from. Some are good. Some aren't as good. You need to choose someone that you're comfortable with and that has experience in domestic relations matters. Make sure that they are ethical and have an ethical billing practice. If someone tells you that they start every billable transaction with 2/10 of an hour, then a 2 minute phone call is costing you the same that a 12 minute phone call would have. That might not be a huge difference here or there, but if that happens every time there's communication with your legal professional, your legal fees will go up astronomically. If you're comfortable with your attorney and they're ethical and reasonable, then that usually leads to your having a lower bill.
