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There may come a point in your marriage when a breakup is inevitable and if that happens a good divorce lawyer will be the first item on a list of things to do; certain qualities are necessary, the most important are listed below:

Skilled in this area of law

Know which standpoint to take

Be trusted by their clients

In these circumstances you will need a divorce attorney who has at least half their workload in this area and one that is able to act as a mediator. Still, you also need to feel at ease with them; someone who immediately instills a sense of trust.

Attorneys that tend to follow the mediation route are good at giving settlement advice but you may need an attorney who is more familiar with courtroom settlements. To save time when you contact your divorce lawyer, keep conversations brief and to the point, which can be achieved by preparing what you need from them in advance.

Plan each conversation by making an agenda and write down the things you want to talk about; take notes on the content of the conversation and the amount of time spent on phone calls. Keep a record of all correspondence and conversations and try where possible to have conversations on the phone which will reduce the amount of time required to see them in person.

Remember you divorce attorney is there for their expertise in the field and not to act as a counselor, you should hopefully be able to use people close to you for that. To get the best out of your divorce lawyer, leave any petty arguments you and your spouse have, aside from the divorce case.

The most important aspect for you to get sorted out is the control of the situation which should be yours and then you will be able to use your lawyer more effectively. It is important they know any decisions regarding the divorce are yours to make and they are there for their knowledge and experience in providing legal recommendations. Ask that you be sent copies of all documents and letters and let them know that you expect phone calls to be answered by the next working day after all you are the one paying the bills.

Not all cases need a courtroom to be decided upon so you could employ a lawyer just to help you with a marital settlement, legal information or advice. This means that a little research is necessary on your part but once you have completed this, it is much easier to contact a lawyer to ask them specific questions and how they see your case concluding. Marital settlements are something that can be arranged by the individuals involved and then have them checked by a divorce lawyer; then if things don’t work out, the lawyer can always be hired to make the divorce settlement.

By: Francisco Segura

Lawyer, a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law. The role of the lawyer varies significantly across legal jurisdictions, and therefore can be treated here in only the most general terms. Dispute resolution is the process of resolving disputes between parties.

There are several methods of dispute resolution:

• litigation
• arbitration
• collaborative law
• mediation
• conciliation

Litigation, the early stages of the litigation may involve initial disclosures of evidence by each party and discovery, which is the ordered swap of evidence and statements between the parties based on what they each anticipate to argue during the actual trial. Discovery is meant to eliminate surprises and clarify what the lawsuit is about and perhaps to make a party realize they should settle or drop the claim, all before wasting court resources. At this point the parties may also engage in pretrial motion filing in order to exclude or include particular legal or factual issues before trial, by blocking the other party from presenting a particular witness or arguing a particular legal theory.

Arbitration is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, wherein the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons by whose decision they agree to be bound. When the subject matter of the dispute is highly technical, arbitrators with an appropriate degree of expertise can be appointed.

Collaborative Law is law procedure in which the two parties agreed that they would not go to court, or threaten to do so the parties make every effort to reach a fair settlement in the course of a series of meetings, often called joint sessions, between the two parties and their lawyers, and sometimes other neutral experts.

Mediation’s aims to help two or (more) disputants in reaching an agreement. Mediation is often ordered during the course of the litigation process. In mediation, the mediator is a neutral third party who doesn’t represent or advise either side. Divorce mediation is worth looking into, especially for a divorcing couple with children. It is going to save a lot of time, money and hassle. Plus it will help to keep emotions in check and let the couple work things out in their own way, under their control.

Conciliation is another method of dispute resolution whereby the parties to a dispute agree to utilize the services of a conciliator (including future interest disputes), who then meets with the parties separately in an attempt to resolve their differences. Conciliation differs from arbitration in that the conciliation process, in and of itself, has no legal standing, and the conciliator usually has no authority to seek indication or call witnesses, usually writes no decision, and makes no award.Conciliation differs from mediation in that the main goal is to conciliate, most of the time by seeking concessions. In mediation, the mediator tries to guide the discussion in a way that optimizes parties’ needs, takes feelings into account and reframes representations.In conciliation the parties seldom, if ever, actually face each other across the table in the presence of the conciliator.

By: Munish Dev