Not long ago there was a situation where students disrupted a speaker whose views they disagreed with. The Dean of Stanford Law School sent a response that was ten pages long. This caught my eye because it helps to show what is wrong with our legal system today. The letter basically stated that it is wrong for students to disrupt speakers on campus. The question that I ask is why it took ten pages to say that. A speaker came on campus. Students rudely interrupted him, preventing him from speaking. The school administrator who was there did not stop the disruptions. This is all wrong. Do you ha ..read more

The concept behind Unbundled Legal Services is simple. There are some parts of the divorce process that you can do yourself. So, you should just pay for the services you need. In theory, this makes sense. In practice, it is problematic. Your divorce is a package, based on your circumstances, designed to determine asset distribution, spousal support, child support, and visitation. If you hire someone to perform a part of these services, you will have no clear perspective of the entire package. You need someone involved in the entire process. There are things you can do that do not require an at ..read more

If you represent yourself, you may have to file some kind of writing. this can be intimidating for people who do not feel themselves to be good writers. But you need not worry. Most family law attorneys are generally not good writers. Simply put, the writing I have seen in family law filings is often horrible. But the reality is that writing better would not make much difference. The judges are used to poor writing. Also, with some judges you are not sure if they will even read your document. The kind of document you will most likely be asked to file is a declaration. This is a written stateme ..read more

When you look at a attorney website you will notice the lack of meaningful information. Most people have three main concerns: How much it will cost? How much they must pay up front? How long it will take? You won't find answers to these question on their website. Before creating my own website, I looked at other attorney’s websites. I know attorneys spend a lot of money to have someone create these websites. I figured they would look more "professional", but I would provide real information that would help people make an informed decision. The websites were basically useless. They all seemed t ..read more

I was reading Google Reviews of other family law attorneys. One review was particularly bad. It said the attorney took his money, never helped him, and that he had an overall bad experience. The reviewer then wrote something that made it clear the review was fake. The reviewer said that he gave the attorney $4000 as a deposit, and that he got no money back from the attorney, even though she did no work. The attorney responded that she felt the review was fake, but she did not say why she knew it was fake. She would never take a case with only a $4000 retainer. It would cost much more than that ..read more

I had just graduated from law school when a friend asked me if I could advise his sister about her divorce. She did not have an attorney and wasn't sure whether she needed one. I researched California divorce and found that she would get $1800 a month spousal support for six and a half years. It was a straight forward case. Her husband was a teacher, so I could find his income easily online. There were no kids. I told her this. She thanked me, saying that was about what she was expecting. She mentioned that she had a free consultation with an attorney scheduled, and that she would talk to the ..read more

I worked at a family law firm with seven attorneys and two Senior Partners. Five attorneys left the firm within four months. All were good attorneys. Most businesses would see this as a crisis. I get the feeling this is not uncommon for family law firms. The main problem is the work environment. The short version is that the practice of billing using billable hours destroys any enjoyment one might have practicing law. (I have a page on the billable hour). Your main goal is not to help people. It is to bill people. Winning and losing cases is not important. Billing clients is your first priorit ..read more

Attorneys like to make you wait for them. Making you wait is a way to show that they are important, busy people and that you are lucky to have a chance to talk to them. Family law firms want to present an image of a high end, high priced firm. In reality, family law attorneys went to poorly rated law schools. I can give you an example of how they treat you. We had a new client who had an appointment with a senior attorney. The client arrived at her appointment at 4:00. I saw her waiting and was chatting with her. We were in the waiting area talking. At 4:25 there was still no sign of the senio ..read more

It is common for family law attorneys to over-bill their clients. Some might wonder why you need to cheat when you are charging $350 and hour (or more). Isn't the fact that you charge $400 an hour enough income without cheating? If an attorney bills only 20 hours a week for fifty weeks, he or she would make their firm $400,000. A new attorney, you are paid less than $100,000. The attorney has made the boss $300,000. With more experience, they will be able to bill more than twenty hours a week and make the firm more money. This is not how the system works: 1. Family law attorneys are afraid the ..read more

If you are considering divorce, the best advice I can give you is don’t do it. Divorce is difficult for people financially and emotionally. It is common to go into debt when you divorce. It is very expensive to hire an attorney, but this is just one of the many additional expenses you incur when you divorce. Many people are puzzled as to why it can cost so much to get a simple divorce. I want to discuss the economics of family law attorneys and why attorneys can charge so much. I admit the information I am giving you is probably not important for you to know. Economics is not a subject that pe ..read more