# My attorney isn't looking after my interests



## everafter (Mar 10, 2011)

He had me sign paperwork which would have left me relatively destitute, and my husband well off. I called it off in time, but now I feel like I should get someone who is more on my side. I am resentful that I have wasted time and money and am no closer to being divorced than 3 weeks ago. Lawyers which have been recommended to me cost $250/hr. 

I noticed that my husband stopped wearing his wedding ring. 

But I am happy that I was able to deal with him today without crying after, and without the surges of pain I had been having. I was even able to make jokes.


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## staircase (May 16, 2011)

Yeah, that's rough. I'm sorry! A friend of mine lost a lot of time and money with a worthless lawyer on child visitation and other kid related things. Nothing catastrophic happened, but she had to come up with a lot more money to mitigate the damage from the first lawyer. She's in a sucky spot.

Lawyers suck, so expensive. Maybe if you keep looking around you can find one to tweak the papers you have so it doesn't cost as much?


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## 827Aug (Apr 27, 2008)

I'm sorry. Sometimes spending the extra money is worth it in the long run. I believe my attorney is now charging $400/hr and he is a two hour drive from my house. He is really good though. 

He has some good policies regarding divorce negotiation. The one I like best is when he sees I'm getting emotional discussing "settlement" issues, he stops. He says we can discuss it further at another time. He tells me to go home and think about what we discussed. He says there is no hurry and a decision shouldn't be made while I'm in an emotional state. That's probably good advice for you as well, since your attorney isn't looking out for your best interest.

Is your attorney strictly practicing family law? That's really helpful as well. Back when my estranged husband had an attorney, his attorney was general practice. My attorney was walking all over him.


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## staircase (May 16, 2011)

:'( $400/hour? I was seriously going to slap my lawyer when she said $250


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## 827Aug (Apr 27, 2008)

staircase said:


> :'( $400/hour? I was seriously going to slap my lawyer when she said $250


Yep, he's a Harvard grad with 40+ years experience in family law. My first attorney was a general practice attorney charging $250/hour. After two appointments I saw she didn't have a clue. Even at $250/hour she was a complete waste of money.


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## Kauaiguy (May 8, 2011)

As with anything else, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. This includes attorneys, and even if you get a costly one, he may not even be looking out for your interest. However EXPERIENCE does count and can even save you money in the long run.

I had to dump mine after only one session which cost me almost $400 bucks. He was too aggressive to the point where he wasn't even listening to my concerns. He just wanted to go after the jugular, which would have ended up in a messy situation.

Fortunately my ex and I were able to negotiate and we used her lawyer to work things out. It wasn't too bad ... her cost approximately $3000.00 to finalize things.

Although he wasn't all that honest either because she was initially quoted $2400 to finalize an uncontested divorce, but suddenly she was charged an additional $600.00 fee for whatever reason.

However, we got away relatively cheap. I just hated seeing nearly my $400.00 (which I could have used for moving expenses) go out the window.


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## everafter (Mar 10, 2011)

I now think I'm going with one who costs $275, but is a collaborative attorney. I hope my husband will find change attys to one that is also, so we can do that process. Still what a collosal waste of money on the first one. Glad it wasn't $400/hr though!


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