Don’t Let Reluctance Stop You From Hiring A Family Law Attorney

Are you involved in a child custody case, domestic abuse situation, or other family law matter? Hi, I’m John Castellano. I’m a partner here at Hartley Lamas, and I’m talking today about the reluctance people generally have to hiring attorneys.

If you have any questions or would like to speak with a skilled attorney about a family law matter, contact Hartley, Lamas, Et Al today at 805-919-8346.

Transcript:
Hi, I’m John Costellano. I’m a partner here at Hartley Llamas and I’m talking today about the reluctance people generally have to hiring attorneys.

Hire An Attorney Before The Last Minute

Usually, in my experience, people hire attorneys when they absolutely have to. So the scenario we generally see is that people in a family law case will be served with papers and if they’re not ordered to be in court on a particular date, they will try to do it themselves. If it’s just a matter of filing a response, they’ll try to do it themselves. And if they can successfully do that, or do that without any kind of a major problem, they’ll keep doing that.

It’s not until they get some kind of notice to appear in court, or they’re ordered to do something that they don’t feel like they can really handle, that we get a call. When we get a call, sometimes, unfortunately, it’s the night before the hearing, or very shortly before a court hearing, and that is a big mistake.

Lead Time Before Your Mediation or Court Appearance

My advice would be if you are going to call an attorney for assistance, give them as much lead time as you can possibly give them. For example, in a child custody case, the courts will schedule mediation appointments to try and work out agreements before going into court. Often we’ll get calls the day before the mediation from potential clients who need assistance, they need case strategy, they need pleadings filed with the court to prepare the mediator, prepare the court, for the positions that these clients have. And the sooner you contact the attorney, the better job the attorney can do, and the more effective the attorney and the client can be together in court.

Contact Us Regarding Your Family Law or Child Custody Case

It’s never too late to contact an attorney. But generally the sooner you do so the better job they can do. If we can be of help, contact us at the links below or the phone number below.