One of my closest friends got divorced recently. After all his efforts of keeping marriage failed, he filed for a divorce. As the trouble of getting divorced wasn’t enough, he got problems with his lawyers too. He had to spend $30000 just to be able to see his own children. He changed three lawyers in this process of divorce. During this time, one thing he noticed was that he was never directly allowed to talk to judge and the lawyers never told judge what he wanted them to tell. The entire experience was so frustrating that in the end he dismissed all his lawyers and decided to represent by himself.
One very important thing in the divorce proceeding is that “Never piss off the judge”. Like every other business, relations matter in court too. The lawyers have good relations with other attorneys and judges. For lawyers, a client is one time but relations are forever. He cannot jeopardize his career by spoiling his relations with judges or with other lawyers. The judges are to court what gods are to temples. The judiciary system is always full of cases and the pile of work always goes on building no matter what. In such brain crunching situation, judges always have a pressure to wind up the cases as fast as they can. And It’s the lawyers who help them do it. So it’s not good to piss off a judge. The lawyers very well know this.
One can represent himself in court of law. You need not necessarily have to have a lawyer to represent you. Some people even choose to represent themselves in the court. But their number is very less. Besides it’s not easy. The knowledge of law and way of representing is a serious matter. Also stakes are very high in divorce cases. So it is advisable to get a good lawyer to represent you in the court of law in divorce cases.
In divorce cases, where stakes are high, it is always good to choose a best lawyer. It is recommended that money should not be given the priority while choosing a divorce lawyer for you. Also see that if he has previous experience of fighting divorce cases. Checking his record of winning divorce cases will give you necessary confidence. In court of law, experience matters more than sheer intelligence.
Though there is no way to know if your lawyer is doing what is best for you, you can get an advice from other lawyers too. You can tell the progress of case to another lawyer (who is of course not related to this case) and get his opinion on the progress of the case. This will give you knowledge and confidence about progress of your case. This will avoid surprises in the end.
If you ever have to represent yourself in the court of law, here are some basics of good courtroom behavior that you must know of.
- Never digress. Try to make your points quickly and logically.
- Always look directly in the eyes of judge when talking.
- Forget about your ego and grovel. Address judge as “your Honor”. Also use phrases like “with all due respect”, “forgive my ignorance” and things like that.
- Be well dressed. The casual cloths don’t suit courtroom environment.
- Follow first 4 rules religiously.
However you know about courts and lawyers, it’s still less. Some faith is also required. So make sure to find a lawyer you can trust. Best.