Selecting your legal counsel before a divorce is a critical decision. Your lawyer will be the professional to whom you are trusting your rights, your interests, and the long-term well-being of your family. Too often, clients start to feel that their counselor may not be the ideal match for them while already in the midst of their divorce proceedings. It is possible to switch attorneys during a divorce, but how can a client know when it is time to make a change?
Warning Sign 1: Lack of Communication
It's crucial that you have access to your counsel during a divorce. Not only should they be updating you on the progress of your case, but also be available to answer any questions or concerns you might have during this uncertain time. If you find yourself always leaving messages and waiting 48 hours or more for a response by phone or e-mail, it may be time to start considering other representatives. Lack of communication is, by far, the most critical reason clients change counsel.
Warning Sign 2: Lack of Organization
During a divorce, you will be asked to submit untold documents to your attorney, many of them financial in nature. It is a counselor's job to properly organize this documentation for each of their clients. While an occasional request for re-submission is no need for alarm, repeated requests for documents you have already passed along is an indication that your attorney is overworked and/or not giving your case the attention it deserves.
Warning Sign 3: Lack of Promptness
The divorce process in New York provides a number of different deadlines both spouses and their counselors have to meet to adhere to the court's schedule. If you find that your attorney continues to ask for extensions or send another lawyer on his/her behalf to a court conference that does not know anything about your case, your lawyer may not be providing the vigilance your case requires.
Warning Sign 4: Lack of Attention
Is your attorney pressuring you into agreeing to terms you're uncomfortable with? Always talking over you? Forgetting details of your case? Ultimately, your legal counselor is working for you, so while they should be informing you of your options, potential challenges, and realistic expectations, they should not be steering your divorce to the swiftest resolution possible against your wishes.
"What do I do now?"
If you've decided to change attorneys after your divorce has already begun, it is first critical to know who you want to replace your current lawyer with. Once you find a new attorney, your new firm will handle the paperwork necessary to change counsel and obtain your file from the prior counsel.
If you believe that your current Long Island divorce lawyer does not have your best interests at heart, then we invite you to contact Samuelson Hause PLLC today. Our partners have over a century of combined legal experience and can make the experience of switching representation in your divorce as hassle-free and seamless as possible.
Our firm is ready to make your goals and concerns our number one priority. Call 516.584.4685 to speak with us today.
