Choosing to meet with a family lawyer is a tough decision and often comes at a stressful and upsetting time.
Family solicitors are often consulted to settle divorce disputes, when a relationship has broken down and reconciliation appears unlikely, or to resolve disputed arrangements regarding children.
Why is the first meeting so important?
Family law disputes can often be extremely highly charged situations and it can be difficult to control your emotions when meeting with your solicitor for the first time.
In order to get the best possible outcome from your case, it is vital that you remain calm and have a well defined strategy for moving forward.
The best way to develop an effective strategy is to have a mutual understanding with your solicitor, them keeping you well informed of the latest developments, and you giving them all the relevant information they need to provide expert advice.
Having a few questions in mind before meeting a potential solicitor for the first time is a great way to stay focussed, not let emotions dictate your decisions, and get a feeling for whether you would work well together.
5 Top Tips for meeting a family solicitor
Here are 10 of the most important things to consider when preparing for your initial consultation with your family solicitor:
1. How much will it cost?
There is no point wasting your time meeting with a solicitor whose fees are well outside of your budget.
Many family solicitors will even charge for an initial consultation so make sure that the first thing you find out is how much a meeting will cost as well as the charging rate of their services thereafter.
2. What will their approach be?
Family law disputes can be resolved in many different ways and different solicitors may favour one approach over another.
Some family law firms specialise in litigation whilst others prefer mediation or a more collaborative solution.
Given the cost of going to court, and the stress that can be put on you and your family by doing so, it is normally preferable to seek an out of court agreement in family cases but if a relationship has completely broken down this may be the only way to achieve what you are looking for.
You should always make sure that the expertise and preferred approach of your solicitor is compatible with the needs and requirements of your specific case.
3. What evidence could be useful?
The more information that your solicitor has about the details surrounding your case the better they will be able to understand the situation and develop an effective strategy.
Social media posts, text messages, a diary of key events, and details of previous behaviour are all examples of some of the information that can be crucial in family law cases that your solicitor may be able to use.
4. Take care with confidential information
You may think that you will be helping your chances by looking through your ex-partners documents for information but giving such documentation to your solicitor will do much more harm than good.
No matter the contents, there is a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning confidential documentation and if revealed to a solicitor they may no longer be able to represent you as they have been privy to information that should have remained private.
At the very least they are obligated to tell the other side what they have which could compromise your chances.
It is best to rely only on your own recollections of events and correspondence that you have received directly when talking to a family solicitor.
5. What are the realistic outcomes?
Family solicitors will have handled hundreds of cases just like yours and once they have seen all the evidence connected to the case, they will be able to give you a pretty good idea of the most likely outcomes.
It is important to understand exactly what the best possible outcome of your case is and what the result will most likely be to avoid disappointment.
For this reason, you should discuss this with your solicitor at an early stage so that you are both on the same page and working towards the same goals.
Why choose Oracle Law?
Oracle Law offers customers across Scotland top quality family solicitor services at a highly competitive price.
We are a relatively new law firm but have freed ourselves from the rigidness of established firms who operate from large offices with a legacy infrastructure, adopting modern working practices to offer industry leading responsive legal services at a fraction of the cost of our competitors.
Oracle Law pride ourselves on having a close relationship with all our clients, working hard to understand their requirements and always being on hand if we are needed.
To learn more about our family law services or to arrange a consultation call us today at 0141 332 0915 or fill out the contact form today.