Attorneys

[SingleDad]

Thanks for the info.  Right in my area too.

[gipsy]

First I found an aty that mostly represents men , And they are out there keep asking , He chose to go that way and thats what he seems to specialkise in and has a good reputation
   What My atty does , He schedules every case for change of custody , And basically takes you through the system . And explians that It isnt much . Here the court wants a Guardian ad litem report , If you don't need a GAl to chnage custody it will be Because the mother is so messed up there are plain and factual records of it , It won't be likely tto get custody after the child is born , And for there to be a change of custody there has to be a reason
  My case was similar wasn't with the mother it was a fling she got pregnant , And In some ways there was no reason for me to have custody , She has a job , and isn't an addict or any thing , Just a terrible liar and trouble maker ,
 BUT My atty told me to go for custody . Because he said . What May come opf trial , He was honest about the fact that there really did not seem to be a reason that I would get custody , He said . " Tale it to trial for custody and at the end one of you gets custody and one gets visitation " And matbe something wierd would come out at trial , " So . Nothing wierd cam out at trial , But as he said , I got visits and she has custody , And the out come was no different than if I would have just went for visits > I ran that one passed him , He said " You are going to get about a basic parenting plan " Iehter way .
   I did wonder what would have happened if I would have spent more time talking to the judge about more parenting time ,
BUT Once she has custody and there has been a custody decree , Signed by the court , In Washington state < Its pretty much final . Unless there is a real issue , So My two cents is ,
 Maybe you could agree to a parenting plan before trial , ASnd there will be no custody decree signed by the court , Then later custody could be heard by the court , But even at that Its unlikely They will change custody . I would interview A lot of atty's And get one that doesn't make It all sound like a huge deal . , And I have a couple atty questions you should put on your list
  1  , Do you like to represent men or women more ?
      Get one that favors men , Pass the rest up !
  2, Do you have any trials comeing up I can watch you at !
   This is a question that will tell you if he is a go getter and scheduals for trial [ Wether it setlles out of court or not )
  But atty is not afraid of trial
  And He should be confident enough to say you could watch him at trial . Or hearings ,
   If you can go watch him at a trial , Its pretty plain at trial , I have watched a few , And a dipshit for an atty at trial is not the one you want , Because he will be soft at settlement , You want an atty that is not afraid of trial , That way he won't settle for less than what you could get at trial !!!
  That is very important , to have an atty that won't take less than you can get !
 And I recomend before you even go to hire an atty go watch a few  family law trials at the court , And what I saw out of three trials were One  Atty , wasn't always necessarily better , But made clear points and his questions had a direction as to the end result being good for his client ,
  I guess what stikes me as the better atty is the ones that have specific points ,
 I  think one atty I watched tried to bore us all to sleep , Including the judge , And The atty I hired , Was the one that hadd good points , And a direction , I spoke to this atty , And he said you go to trial with the case that you have and it could be a strong argument or weak , But you also go to trila with what may result as far as examination and cross examination .
 And what you will be able to see when you interview atty's is wether they blow smoke up Your @$$ , Because trial is not some Parry mason movie . Its pretty plain . A little boring , And straight forward . If I had any advice that I stree the most before hireing an atty is go watch a few trials  . Most likely you will only have time to watch parts , But the likely thing id you will see a couple of impressive atty's . And thenGet their card and If they can't work for you ask if they know any other GOOD atty's