All divorce lawyers charge by the hour - and conflict
generates billable hours. A litigated divorce will generally cost tens
of thousand of dollars, sometimes more than $100,000 in legal fees for
one party alone. The total legal costs of a low-conflict resolution
for both parties generally ranges between $1,000 and $5,000.
The great cost of the divorce compounds many of the other
divorce problems because most divorcing couples find themselves facing
financial difficulties during the process. Legal fees burn up money
that could be used to give the family a fresh start, to pay for college
for the children, or to resolve transportation issues for an out-of-state
parent.
Couples in litigation often settle their cases late in
the process - "on the courthouse steps" - not because they
have found a solution, but because they have run out of savings and
their attorneys are unwilling to extend their debts.
Most couples do not have the liquid savings that can finance
a litigated divorce. Consequently, they often go into deep debt through
the divorce. Ironically, even the "lucky" party who has a
parent or other relative who is willing to help finance the divorce
does not find solutions through the litigation process. Rather, they
simply find themselves mired deeper in the litigation because the extra
resources allowed them to fight issues they might have resolved if the
"war chest" were not available.
The only people that benefit from a high-conflict divorce
are the attorneys. Contrary to most people's thinking, most attorneys
do not generate conflict in order to increase their fees. Family law
is among the least lucrative of legal areas. It does not generally attract
the type of individual who would create family conflict for the purpose
of making money.
However, many attorneys do too little to divert the conflict
or to seek creative solutions. Many are trained in adversarial methods
and do not fully understand alternative solutions. A lack of peacemaking
skills can indeed reward these attorneys - but they do not need to create
conflict to make fees. Normally, conflict appears at the office door
without invitation.
In many divorce cases, couples - angry, frightened, vulnerable
or vengeful - show up at the attorney's offices all too eager to wage
war. An attorney has a responsibility to act against his or her economic
interests and direct the client to alternatives that better suit the
true needs of the family. Good attorneys know that, while these actions
will reduce legal fees on that particular case, their future in this
area depends upon having satisfied clients. Increasingly, sophisticated
clients realize they should not be satisfied with an attorney who does
not understand all of the alternate methods of helping them find solutions.
While any sensible person facing divorce would want to
avoid the legal fees of unnecessary conflict, we do not suggest that
the sensible person should avoid all attorney fees. Good attorneys perform
useful services for clients who understand best how to use an attorney's
time productively--pay an attorney for providing good, sound advice
and for drafting workable agreements.
Good attorneys can provide invaluable advice that can
save you tens of thousands of dollars and much emotional pain. Moreover,
the "divorce contract" or marital
termination agreement that you will sign at the end of a divorce
is one of the most important legal documents you will ever sign. It
is essential to have these documents prepared well and thoroughly reviewed
so that you can avoid future problems.
Alternative
Dispute Resolution(ADR) does not fully eliminate legal fees. It
does greatly reduce the fees by focusing lawyers on the legal skills
that provide the most value to you-providing sound advice and drafting
reliable documents.
One way these alternative methods can save thousands of
dollars is by using neutral experts to help you decide hard questions.
These neutrals can be accountants, realtors, psychologists, actuaries
or other professionals who can provide an expert opinion on an issue
critical to a fair resolution of your case.
Traditional, adversarial methods involve the use
of formal
discovery and individually hired experts that add dramatically
to the expense. After each party has paid for a separate expert, the
attorneys are paid to argue about which expert is more reliable. Thousands
of dollars pay for wrangling over issues that a neutral expert could
resolve swiftly and inexpensively.
