Why justice is rarely served part II: How much do you trust your judicial officer?

Every day people with family law problems call up family law attorneys, post questions on Avvo, and chat up their friends who have gone through divorces or custody battles asking essentially the same question--here is my situation, what will a judge order?  On occasion there is a fairly easy answer, but most of the time, the answer is a most unsatisfying, "It depends."  This is true of most areas of law.  After all, attorneys are trained to see possible ambiguities and come up with arguments in support of the most unlikely outcomes.  Many family law situations involve issues that are incredibly different from case to case.  Inevitably, the statutes have been written to allow for decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis.  For most issues, the outcome allows for a lot of judicial discretion, so a  lot of your outcome in court will always depend on your judge or commissioner.  So here are more reasons why you should work through your family law problems and view court as a last resort.

Secrets of Hourly Rates

When I quote my hourly rates to people who don't regularly work with attorneys, I often sense them having heart palpitations.  I assume they must be comparing my hourly rate to their salary and thinking that there is no way my time can be worth that much more than theirs--I know that's probably what I would have thought before I started working as an attorney.  There are reasons why hourly rates are so high, but there are also firms and individuals who take advantage of the high average to make obscene amounts of money for themselves.

"Full" custody

I just went on Avvo today to possibly answer some questions, and I am feeling compelled to post something about custody.  Many of the questions I get or see posted about custody are in the form of, "How do I get full custody?"  I don't know what people assume is involved in full custody.  I get the impression, though, that most often the term is used in reference to the type of custody where one parent makes all decisions about the children, has the children close to 100% of the time, and can up and move the kids wherever, whenever at the custodial parent's sole discretion.

I need to get this off my chest:  ALMOST NO ONE EVER GETS THAT KIND OF "FULL" CUSTODY.  A few notable exceptions:  cases involving violent physical abuse of one parent perpetrated by the other parent (particularly in front of the kids) that is seen by credible witnesses and preferably prosecuted criminally; cases where one parent has a recent criminal history involving serious violent crimes; cases where one party has abused the children or has a history of abusing children; and cases where one party has no interest in being a parent and does not object to a request for full custody.

How to go broke paying for representation in your family law case

There are many, many ways to fall deeply into debt as a result of your family law case.  Here are 12 that are related directly to how you go about hiring and handling an attorney.

1. Wait to get legal advice until after your conflict has escalated and motions have been filed.
2. Hire an attorney to handle everything for you, don't handle anything yourself. Don't bother to ask for options on how you can utilize an attorney the most economically. Just tell them you want them to handle your case and trust that the attorney will take care of everything for you.
3. Don't shop around for an attorney or attempt to negotiate the rate.
4. Focus entirely on the attorney's rate and don't take into consideration how experience and reputation might help you resolve your case more economically.
5. Don't replenish your retainer. Allow your account with your attorney to go into the red. I'm sure your attorney feels a moral obligation to continue representing you without payment. Forget about that clause in your fee agreement about interest on outstanding balances. I'm sure attorneys never pursue collections on outstanding accounts.