NJ Family Legal Blog : New Jersey Divorce and Family Lawyer & Attorney : Fox Rothschild Law Firm : Domestic Violence, Prenuptial Agreements, Child Custody

Driving around town this weekend, I saw many lawn signs, like those you would see for a political candidate, advertising a "Free Divorce Seminar." The old adage, "you get what you paid for" comes to mind. 

While I am aware of the phenomena of these "seminars" over the last several years, putting aside potential conflict of interest issues that could perhaps be created, is this the type of thing that one contemplating a divorce should be attending?  Or rather, should a person schedule an honest to goodness divorce consultation with an attorney to which they have been referred or otherwise have researched? 

There is no privacy or anonymity at the seminar - you may see neighbors, parents of your children's classmates, etc.  There is no confidentiality or privilege at a seminar.  You have these things at an initial consultation. 

You cannot ask confidential questions at a seminar; maybe you cannot ask questions at all (and the smart attorney probably would not take questions for risk of prematurely creating an attorney client relationship.)  You cannot show the attorney any pertinent document for the same reason.  And how can you develop a rapport with a speaker at a seminar?  The seminar can never be tailored to your special circumstances because one size never fits all. At a seminar, you cannot really probe the presenter's experience, depth of staff and other resources of the firm, ability to commit to your case, etc. 

At the end of the day, a one-on-one consultation, even if you have to pay for it, will be far more worthwhile to protect your dignity and get the attention and information you deserve.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

David Rasner a partner in our Philadelphia office and Co-Chair of the firm;s Family Law practice group, wrote an excellent post entitled "Pre-Divorce Planning" on the firm's Pennsylvania Family Law blog.

The post addresses selecting a lawyer, gathering documents, understanding your finances, determining your goals and priorities, compiling a list of questions to ask at the initial interview, etc.

To read the full text of David's Blog entry, click here.
 

EDITOR'S NOTE:   I like to tell people to gather and make copies of all of the relevant documents they can find (for example tax returns, bank records, credit card records, investment and retirement account records, records regarding major asset purchases, business records if a spouse owns a business),  Once they have the copies, the originals should be returned and the copies kept off site.  It is not unusual for documents to "disappear" once a divorce becomes imminent.

Similarly, despite the obvious and mounting tension, this is the time to ratchet down the angry interactions with the other spouse.   The reason for this is that one of the first questions that is often asked at a consultation is how can I get my spouse to move out.  The answer is typically that unless there is domestic violence, you cannot remove a spouse.  Many people often abuse the domestic violence laws, claiming harassment (where it didn't really occur or was just an argument), to get the other party out of the house.  I often advise people to avoid confrontations, to not raise their voice and to retreat.  A person may also want to purchase a digital recorder to protect themselves from a false claim of harassment.  ERIC SOLOTOFF 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks