How to Choose a Family Law Attorney For The First Time

Attorneys practicing family law will go to great lengths to ensure the best for their clients. From helping with legal document preparation to assisting clients on the front lines of child custody cases, an attorney who doesn’t have the right frame of mind will miss out on picking up on new clients. Attorneys will encourage clients to recognize these signs when choosing the best attorney to represent them.

What’s wrong with hiring the wrong attorney?

Choosing the wrong attorney will put you in a bind financially. That’s because lawyers are expensive and if they’re not making any progress, the problem at hand becomes too big for them to solve. Whether you’re seeking custody of a child or looking to acquire visitation rights, the right attorney will adopt the right mindset from the start of the case. You’ll see these qualities in an attorney when you begin working with them. If not, consider working with another attorney going forward, as it’s better to get results than stick with any family law attorney.

Fortunately, when choosing a lawyer to represent your case, you have the power to choose the attorney with the traits and values that will best help you earn a win. Here are three qualities you should look for when choosing a family law attorney for the first time.

Empathy

Attorneys who can put themselves in their clients’ positions are those who are best qualified to advocate for the proper future of children in custody cases. While lawyers negotiate the best possible arrangements for a child, they’ll also be knowledgeable of the tension and anxiety that goes into a child custody battle. Fortunately, the best attorneys will know how to listen and fully embrace new information while offering a defense that is reminiscent of what a client needs. Potential clients seeking representation should always look to see how an attorney responds to people.

Compassion

If you’re choosing a lawyer for the first time, you’ll want to look for signs that the attorneys at the practice express and feel sincerity regarding the work they do and the people they represent. Of all the signs of an effective attorney, your lawyer should care about the people and causes they represent, ultimately expressing that compassion through profound conversation and hours of deep thought. If your attorney looks for excuses to shy away from the work, there is a good chance they don’t care enough about the work or the client to insert the required effort. In that case, you should seek attorneys who have fought tooth and nail for their clients, as evident by the social proof and track history of the attorneys.

Commitment to progress

Clients who place themselves in harm’s way still deserve a rigorous defense, and child custody cases are no different. From the initial hearing or filing of paperwork, an attorney should demonstrate a pattern of progress that proves they’re making reasonable gains in your case. You may feel skeptical about switching attorneys in the early stages. However,  a lawyer who isn’t making progress while representing you in a child custody battle is merely taking your money or worse. Better to work with the optimistic who get things done then the incompetent attorneys who struggle to make a difference.

Whether you’re working with Heath Baker Law or a competitor, it’s in your best interests to choose a lawyer who will show empathy, compassion, and a commitment to progress. For clients, few experiences are worse than spending thousands of dollars on an attorney and seeing no immediate benefit. Fortunately, with the right attorney, you have every reason to expect you’ll win your custody case and get the kind of representation you need.