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Qualities to Look for in Your Indianapolis Divorce Lawyer

Qualities to Look for in Your Indianapolis Divorce Lawyer

Going through a divorce can be one of the most anxiety filled and taxing experiences a person will have. Oftentimes a party will immediately obtain counsel in order to relieve some of the uncertainty and panic they feel each time they let their mind or the conversation turn to divorce. This might work for the time being, however, in the long run you should consult with more than just one lawyer before making a decision about who to hire. Looking for an attorney with certain characteristics can help ensure that your anxiety level goes down and stays that way throughout as well as after the divorce. This blog explores the qualities to look for in your Indianapolis divorce lawyer and how to spot them. 

First you want a divorce lawyer that specializes in divorce and/or family law. While the large majority of attorneys practice more than one type of law, many have narrowed it down to just a handful of practice areas and may designate one or two as a specialty. Those are the lawyers from which you want to choose. Determining if family law is one of an attorneys areas of practice, how many types of law they practice, and if that is too many can be accomplished with a simple search of the internet. You can search an attorneys name and city if you already have a name or search for “Indianapolis divorce lawyer” to get a list of names. Scan for the attorneys website from your search results using their name first. If you look above the clickable webpage title you will see the web address of the page, such as yahoo.com, smithfamilylaw.com, or amazon.com. You can usually tell by the web address if the link goes to an attorneys website or a collection of attorney listings. Attorney listings at findlaw.com, avvo.com, and justia.com, as well as a few others are good places to find information about a specific attorney if you cannot locate their website. 

Another important quality to look for in your Indianapolis divorce lawyer is the ability to get and stay organized. While this may not sound like an essential characteristic for your lawyer, those who hire a disorganized attorney quickly learn why organization is a required. To determine if an attorney is organized, pay attention to the top of their desk, the floor around the desk, and any other surfaces in their office. A small number of file folders on the desk and in a small “out” basket is fine. Files covering the surface of the desk and overflowing from an “in” basket is a concern, the size of which can be quantified by the number of stacks and how high the files are stacked. Once the stacks spill onto the floor or other surfaces in the office, the disorganization has reached critical levels. With all those client’s files strewn about as if the attorney cannot keep up with the caseload, clients cases cannot be getting the attention they likely require. At a certain point, this can easily turn into a lack of professionalism and ethics. 

Professionalism is up next. Although you probably do not want a divorce lawyer who is exceedingly professional, resulting in you feeling intimidated or uneasy, one that is lacking an adequate amount of professionalism will in all likelihood fail to get you even close to the outcome you desire. The laid back attitude and appearance of carelessness tend to lead judges and other attorneys to view an unprofessional lawyer as inexperienced, disrespectful and possibly even negligent. Many who provide legal services feel as if the professionals who behave inappropriately mar the reputation of them all and the legal field as a whole. It is this line of thought that can lead other attorneys to not be as cooperative with an unprofessional lawyer as with others and judges to question the ethics and integrity of those disrespecting the line of work.

There are little things that you can look for in order to help spot a lawyer who does not behave with the appropriate amount of professionalism. Were they on time for your appointment, did they interrupt the consultation answering the phone, chatting with co-workers, or ordering and eating lunch, and did they speak and behave as if they were a professional in the workplace, or did they put their feet up on the desk, use profanity, or tell an inappropriate joke or story. 

Finally, there are two more important qualities to look for in your Indianapolis divorce lawyer; how easy they are to have a conversation with and whether they seemed honest and realistic or as if they were making a sales pitch to convince you to hire them. When consulting with attorneys keep in mind that you are not looking for pleasant discussions or even someone who is all that likeable. What you want is a divorce lawyer who listens to you and addresses your concerns or answers your questions in a direct and easy to understand manner. Your conversation should be comfortable and come naturally to you both. You must be able to listen to and understand them and they must be able to listen to and understand you. 

This blog was written by attorneys at Ciyou & Associates, P.C. It is for general educational purposes. The blog is not intended to be relied upon for any legal matter or issue. The blog is not legal advice. This is an advertisement.

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