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What to expect from your family law attorney

November 4, 2013 · by Pittsburgh Family Law Services, P.C.

Affordable Family Law Representation in the Allegheny County Area
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How do I get started with a family lawyer?
A lawyer might talk to you briefly over the telephone to introduce himself and get a sense of what kind of service you need, and may offer to schedule an initial paid consultation in his office. Be sure to ask the lawyer whether there is a fixed fee for the meeting, so you will know beforehand what you are getting into.

Don’t hesitate to call more than one divorce lawyer before you set up a meeting, since this is your opportunity to learn how different family law offices might handle your calls in days to come. Any law office worth retaining will handle your call professionally and courteously.

The first meeting with a lawyer is your chance to get important information about his family law practice and about your own legal situation, and to decide whether this lawyer is the one who can do the job for you. Lawyers are just like anyone else; some are easier to get along with than others, and some have better skills and experience. As in any new relationship, “gut feeling” can be very important. As you discuss your situation and listen to how the lawyer responds to your concerns, think about the person sitting across from you. Does he try to put you at ease in his office? Does he listen to what you have to say? Does he seem to understand what you are dealing with? Does his advice make sense? If he cannot answer a question, will he explain why? Is this someone you feel you can trust during this difficult period of your life?

Although one meeting can’t give you every answer to every question, by the time it is over you should have a good understanding of where you stand, what your choices are, what might happen next, and how you can protect yourself.

What should I expect from my family lawyer?
INFORMATION. Your lawyer should give you the information you need to understand your options. A good lawyer can give you the benefit of many people’s experiences, pointing out strengths and pitfalls, and making suggestions that might help you get what you need without having to fight. He will listen carefully to your concerns, and offer meaningful perspectives.

DILIGENCE. Your lawyer will stay on top of your case, meet deadlines, and always will be prepared when he appears in court. He will prepare you for your role in the case, and will make the most of every opportunity.

COMMUNICATION. Your telephone calls will be returned with reasonable promptness, and your lawyer will keep you informed of important developments in your case. He will offer you clear answers to your questions, in plain English.

COURTESY AND RESPECT. A good lawyer will treat you as a valued client, and will conduct himself professionally toward everyone connected with your case. Lawyers who sacrifice standards of decency in the name of zealous representation can actually make things worse for their own clients by creating unnecessary fights. That might be good for the lawyer who charges by the hour, but not necessarily for the one who is paying the bill.

CANDOR. A lawyer who doesn’t “give it to you straight” isn’t doing you much good. If you don’t know the true picture of your situation as your lawyer sees it, you can’t take it into account when you make decisions. A good lawyer may not always have good news for you, but you will always know what he thinks about your situation.

CONFIDENTIALITY. You can feel comfortable speaking to your lawyer freely, although you should never expect him to help you hide assets or permit perjury.

What shouldn’t I expect from my family lawyer?
All licensed Pennsylvania lawyers are required to conform to a professional code of ethics that is enforced by the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A good lawyer values a solid reputation for ethical conduct among colleagues and judges, and that reputation is an asset to his clients. A lawyer’s reputation is only ever as good as the faith he keeps today. When you retain a lawyer, don’t expect a “mouthpiece,” television-style courtroom drama, or a “whatever I can get away with” attitude. A good lawyer’s effectiveness lies in the good advice he offers and his skillful handling of your case, not in undirected aggression and expensive bluster. Other things not to expect a good lawyer to do:

• Hide your income and assets.
• Lie to his opponent or to the court, or permit you to do so.
• Tolerate disrespectful conduct, or turn a blind eye toward it.
• Escalate or manufacture a fight where none need occur.
• Make important case decisions without discussing them with you in advance.
• Create or escalate a fight for its own sake.
• Indulge in name-calling contests with the other side at your expense.
• Extend credit to you in lieu of prompt payment.

Perhaps most important of all, never expect your lawyer to take sole responsibility for your case like the mechanic who keeps your car on the road. You are an essential part of the litigation process. You are facing some of the most important life choices you may ever have to make, both for you and for your children; never surrender them to someone else.

What will my lawyer expect from me?
CANDOR. There is no such thing as a perfect case, and no one leads a perfect life. If your lawyer doesn’t know about the skeletons in your closet, he won’t be prepared when your spouse throws the door wide open to put them on display! It is always better for your lawyer to find out about the challenges he will face from you in his office, rather than from your spouse in a courtroom.

FOLLOW HIS ADVICE. Your lawyer offers you the benefit of his education and experience, an outside perspective, a cool head and the experiences of other people who faced what you are going through. He knows that it is never enough to be right or to deserve justice, and that there are some forms of vindication that no judge can ever deliver. He knows what judges want to see (and don’t want to see!), and how they are likely to view what you say and do. While he can never guarantee you favorable results, he can suggest approaches that might help guide you around the pitfalls that are common to family law cases, and help you to make the most of the strong points of your case.

RESPECT, COURTESY AND COMMON SENSE. At a time in your life when you might be least able to maintain a cool head, it is all the more important that you do so. Even spouses who never wanted to fight can find themselves in foxholes because of a moment’s passionate anger. You can’t control your spouse’s actions, but you can – and must – keep control over yourself and your conduct. If you act like you are being recorded every time you deal with your spouse, and are prepared to answer for every decision you make, you will never have to fear the truth. Your lawyer can be your sword-and-shield, or he can be your broom-and-dustpan; your conduct can make all the difference.

PAY ATTENTION, AND STAY IN TOUCH. Stay involved in your case, and be your lawyer’s active partner. Open, read and (if necessary) respond promptly to what he sends you. Return his phone calls. Keep him up to date on developments that may affect your case.

GIVE HIM WHAT HE ASKS FOR. As your case moves forward, your lawyer will probably ask you for a variety of information and documents, or you may have to provide them to your spouse as part of the litigation process. Be diligent in responding to these requests, and discuss any concerns or questions as early as possible.

FOLLOW COURT ORDERS. Unless your lawyer tells you differently, always follow court orders. Failure to do so can result in penalties that range from frustrating to crippling, depending on the nature of the violation.

Who will be working on my case?
When you retain a family lawyer, you are also retaining the entire law office. Law firms often distribute their caseloads in-house. Senior lawyers often assign case work, or even whole cases, to associates. Some family law firms adopt a “team” approach to their caseloads, coordinating their efforts to ensure that work is handled efficiently. Routine tasks such as research and document preparation are often assigned to associates or support staff members. This is normal, and when properly managed it allows a law firm to streamline its function by assigning tasks to the most qualified and/or lowest-cost person capable of handling the job properly. Also, lawyers often share each others’ workloads when one of them becomes overloaded, unavailable, or double-booked. The bottom line for you is that you are entitled to competent and informed representation. You are entitled to be kept informed about the progress of your case. If you become concerned at any time about how your case is being handled, you are entitled to an explanation.

How much is this going to cost me?
Sadly, there is no meaningful way to answer this very reasonable question unless the services you need have a fixed fee. Every case is unique, and the cost of legal services usually depends upon how much time the lawyer has to spend working for you. Lawyers usually break down time spent working on your case into tenths of an hour. For some family law services, minimum fees will apply. Like any other investment, legal services are most cost-effective when they offer a reasonable prospect of a good return, or when they are your best opportunity to prevent even greater damage. A good lawyer will take the cost of his own professional services into account when advising you about possible courses of action.

Lawyers usually work on retainer: you will make an advance payment to your lawyer to create a fund that he will draw against to pay himself as he earns the money. You will have to replenish this fund if it becomes too depleted, according to the terms of your written fee agreement. Do not expect your lawyer to work for you on credit. Unless your fee agreement says otherwise – and read it carefully! – retainers are usually refundable to the extent that they have not been earned by services rendered and expenses incurred.

There are some things you can do to keep your legal costs down, and to get the most “bang” for your legal buck:

• Take notes when you talk to your lawyer, so that you can avoid asking the same questions more than once.
• Keep your communications with your lawyer direct and to the point, without the false economy of cutting things so short that you prevent him from getting the information he needs, or from giving you the advice that you need.
• Whenever possible, communicate directly with your spouse rather than turning the job over to your lawyer. Sometimes, sadly, that simply is not possible.
• Become a clerk on your own case: promptly gather and organize any necessary information or records that your lawyer needs, and discuss with him what other “legwork” you might be able to do to keep your costs down.
• Call your lawyer to address potential problems before they happen, because it is usually cheaper to stay out of trouble, than to get out of trouble. Don’t just look before you leap, discuss before you leap. Making sure that you have the information to keep yourself safe and protected is part of your lawyer’s job.
• Be responsible and reasonable in your day-to-day dealings with your spouse, and avoid letting negative emotions make your choices for you. Why put bullets in a gun that is already aimed at you?
• Consider alternate forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation or co-parental counseling. Your lawyer might be able to offer you suggestions and resources.
• Give some thought to which battles are worth fighting, and what you might be willing to give up in exchange for closure and peace of mind. Your lawyer can discuss this with you, and offer both suggestions and useful perspectives.

If you need legal assistance with your divorce or family law matter in Southwestern Pennsylvania, call my office to set up a personal consultation with an experienced divorce and child custody lawyer, and to learn more about contested or uncontested divorce in Pennsylvania and how it affects you. Please do not comment anonymously, and do not post anything that you consider confidential. We try to be responsive to commentary and questions, but know that posting here will not create an attorney/client relationship and that we will not offer legal advice via the Internet.

Riding the Tiger: The Cost of Divorce

January 27, 2012 · by Pittsburgh Family Law Services, P.C.

Affordable Divorce Services in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
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In the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding on the back of the tiger ended up inside. – John F. Kennedy

Calling a divorce lawyer for the first time is seldom easy. You may never have worked with an attorney, and divorce may be something you never imagined yourself having to face. Your head is probably filled with questions and concerns, worries and desires, and a will to square your shoulders and face whatever is ahead if you can find someone to watch your back. Above all, you are wondering: How much will I have to pay my lawyer? What does it cost to get divorced in Pennsylvania?

It’s a good question. It’s a reasonable question. Unless your situation is very straightforward, though, it’s also probably the one question that your lawyer can’t begin to answer in any meaningful way. For anything beyond the most basic of services, there is simply no way to predict costs of divorce with any certainty. Anybody who tries to tell you differently has something to sell you, and you should consider taking a good close look before you buy.

Abraham Lincoln famously pointed out that a lawyer’s time and advice are his stock in trade, and in most cases there are simply too many variables to permit your attorney to predict how much time your case will take. Will your case settle or go all the way to trial? Will we have to fight for every little thing? Is your estate complex? Are there many issues to resolve? Will your spouse see reason, or instead fight battle after pointless battle out of sheer spite?

This uncertainty is why divorce lawyers work on retainer instead of quoting fixed fees. A “retainer” is nothing more than a fund of your money that has been put aside in escrow to ensure that your lawyer is paid for the time he will spend on your case. Usually, when the fund is depleted it must be renewed. Take a good look at the lawyer’s fee agreement before you sign it, to know what to expect.

Lawyers want to help people, and we want to make money doing it. IOUs don’t cut it. The grim reality of law practice is that when lawyers work without a retainer, we turn ourselves into credit cards. Once upon a time I added up all the money that clients owed me and realized that I could have lived very well for a year on it. Anyone in business learns to count on people to pay for what they still need before they pay for what they already have, every time. Since I’m no fonder of working for free than you are, I changed my business practices.

Everybody has heard jokes about lawyers and money. “It was so cold last winter, I saw a lawyer with his hands in his own pockets!” Lawyers aren’t cheap, but neither is running a business in a highly competitive professional field. We know what our service is worth, we know what we sacrificed to be able to offer it, and let’s be honest: lawyers don’t enter into private practice to be poor.

What do you get for your money when you pay your lawyer? Your money’s worth, if your lawyer is ethical and knows what he is doing. You hire a legal professional because you have high expectations of skilled service for the fees and costs you pay, and you deserve to get it.

Below are some truths about lawyers and money, and some advice to help you get the biggest bang for your legal buck.

Pick the right lawyer.
I have already written about what you should expect from a good family law attorney, as well as what your attorney can expect from you. Be prepared to listen to advice, be prepared to take advice, and make sure that you partner with your lawyer rather than dropping off your case as if you were leaving your car with a mechanic.

Ask about lower-cost options, or things that you can do yourself to reduce costs.
… and ask early in your relationship. In my Pittsburgh divorce and family law practice, I offer clients three possible ways to reduce costs: (1) a client who is willing to become my “clerk” by doing some of the organizational legwork that doesn’t require a lawyer (such as gathering and organizing documents) will certainly save some money, (2) I give the work on your case to the person in my office who costs the least and who can still get the job done to my standard, and (3) I offer “unbundled” service, in which you will represent yourself in court while working with us ‘behind the scenes’ to advise you, review and draft documents, etc. Additionally, I promise my clients that I will never charge either to discuss billing issues, or to discuss any concerns you may have with how your case is being handled or about any member of my staff.

Don’t play if you can’t pay.
Having practiced divorce and family law in Pittsburgh for around a quarter-century, I have no illusions about what I cost or how that cost can add up. Consider, though, that putting money on account with a skilled divorce lawyer is like putting coal in a furnace. Do you want your lawyer engaged and oriented on your case, ready to negotiate but prepared to fight? Do you want regular updates that show your case moving forward assertively? Do you want promptly returned calls, detailed answers to your questions and creative approaches? Make sure that your retainer is maintained. We all like to be paid, and the simple truth is that a lawyer (like anyone else with a business to run) is far more eager to focus on serving the clients who pay him now, over the ones who offer even the most sincere good intentions. Don’t expect your lawyer to work for promises instead of pay. Would you?

Prepare to stay the course.
Getting a lawyer started on your divorce and then balking at payment (or running out of resources, which amounts to the same thing) can be the courthouse equivalent of trying to ride a roller coaster halfway. If you have any doubts about your fortitude, available resources or willingness to follow through with what you start, discuss them with your family law attorney before you get on the tiger’s back.

Have definite, reality-checked goals.
Goals can always be subject to change, of course, but anyone who goes into a fight without a reasonably-defined set of goals is setting him- or herself up to lose, and lose badly. Let your lawyer help you set realistic, achievable goals and explore your options. Abandon the concept of “winning” and replace it with “achieving.” Battling without a goal, or with conflicting goals, is like a racing without a finish line; it may be good for your lawyer’s wallet, but not for much else.

Don’t expect your lawyer to run a tab or accept “payments.”
Your divorce lawyer understands that your resources are limited and will discuss with you how best to use them, but can’t – and shouldn’t – turn into a credit card for you. He or she is running a business and not a charity, and almost certainly will not accept installment payments. Don’t take it personally. No family lawyer with any mileage in him has avoided being stiffed by a client at least once. I have had clients turn deadbeat on me for whom I achieved every last goal, and many years ago I even had a client who tried to pay me in chickens. Sadly, my bank would not let me deposit them.

Work for sunshine, but plan for rain.
Gather your resources. Expect your divorce to cost more than you think, and do your best to make sure that funds are available. Discuss with your divorce lawyer any concerns about your available resources as early as possible so that he or she can advise you of your options before you find yourself overcommitted.

Follow your lawyer’s advice.
I often tell clients, “I can be your sword-and-shield, or your broom-and-dustpan.” In my experience, clients who follow my advice do better than clients who do not, if for no other reason than that there is less to clean up if everything is done right the first time. Don’t force your lawyer to become your apologist. It is seductively easy to fall into the trap of defiant non-cooperation (after all, where was the cooperation when you needed it?), but the fact of the matter is that any divorce process has a give-and-take that is part of the ticket price you have to pay to get your day in court. Your legal fees go up with every reminder your lawyer has to send you, and with every defense he has to make to buy you additional time or to shield you from sanctions.

Drama is expensive.
Ignore what prime time television teaches you about law practice. I’m as fond of real-life courtroom drama as any of my colleagues, but most of a good lawyer’s efforts in a divorce case are as undramatic as can be. We prepare, consult and negotiate. We investigate. We organize, digest and summarize records. We consult with you, update you, and answer your questions. We research and draft documents as we prepare your case. All of this takes billable time, and meanwhile it is easy for a client to think, “I’m paying all this money, but I don’t see anything happening in my case!” Think of building a case as building a car engine: inert while it is being built and invisible to the rest of the world when it is finished, but swift and powerful when the time comes for rubber to meet road. Your lawyer should be keeping you up to date and also touching base with you as your case develops, as well as seeking ways to avoid expensive conflict. If you have any doubts or concerns about what is going on in your case, you have every right to contact your lawyer and inquire. A good divorce lawyer will be glad for your active involvement, will respect your concerns, and will address them directly.

Avoid getting into conflict with your own divorce attorney.
An adversarial relationship with your lawyer helps no one and can run up your legal bills pointlessly. If you don’t understand or agree with what your lawyer is doing, discuss it. Part of your lawyer’s job is to address your concerns, and to make sure that you have as much information as possible so that you are best able to make sound decisions. Sometimes, that means telling you a harsh or painful truth even if it is not what you want to hear. People who have been wronged by the ones they trusted most of all never want to be told that their goals are unachievable or that their positions are unsustainable, but the divorce attorney who hesitates to advise a client frankly does his client no favors. As a professional, I want to offer you better advice than you might get from the person on the next bar-stool!

Lawyer-client relationships can sometimes go bad, just as any other relationship can. Sometimes the lawyer is the problem, sometimes the client, and sometimes it is just bad chemistry between them. First, foremost and always your case is yours, and your lawyer should respect that even as he or she tries to make sure that your choices don’t leave you standing in your own way. If you are not comfortable with your lawyer or his choices, never forget that you are free to seek a second opinion or even to hire another lawyer entirely. Before you do that, though, consider reality-checking your own impressions and conduct to make sure that “changing horses” really is the right medicine for the situation.

Keep communications with your lawyer topical and to the point.
A good divorce lawyer wears as many hats as his client needs: counselor, advocate, confessor, friend, confidante, hand-holder, shoulder to cry on, sounding board, and occasionally (and reluctantly) a janitor. It all comes at a price, though, so each time you contact your lawyer remember that somewhere in the background a clock is ticking. Don’t engage in false economy by rushing through a call, but do keep good records, take good notes, and keep your communications concise and to the point. I like to build relationships with my clients and am often happy to chat with them, but I always make it a point to tell a client that I am taking myself “off the clock” as soon as the conversation turns in that direction. If your own lawyer seems to be drifting into chatter, there is nothing wrong with asking to keep the conversation focused on the business at hand until it has been fully addressed.

Avoid false economy.
Save money today by riding on bald tires, and you risk paying more tomorrow when one of them bursts or hydroplanes you off the road. It’s the same with legal advice. Even if you cannot afford a lawyer to work for you as an advocate, consulting with someone who deals every day with family law matters is likely to offer you new perspectives, suggestions and possible solutions that will help ensure that when you make your move, your eyes are fully open. One of the very best things any client can say to me is, “Wow, I never really thought about it that way.” Sometimes, an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. There are times when it seems that what my client needs most of all is a time machine, so that we can discuss a difficult situation before it escalated into a crisis!

If you need legal assistance with your divorce or family law matter in Southwestern Pennsylvania, call my office to set up a personal consultation with a Pittsburgh divorce attorney, and to learn more about what to expect during divorce in Pennsylvania. Please do not comment anonymously, and do not post anything that you consider confidential. We try to be responsive to commentary and questions, but know that posting here will not create an attorney/client relationship and that we will not offer legal advice via the Internet.

How to find a good divorce lawyer in Pennsylvania

April 11, 2011 · by Pittsburgh Family Law Services, P.C.

Experienced Affordable Divorce Representation in Pittsburgh
CALL 412-371-4500 FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
READ MORE ARTICLES ABOUT FAMILY LAW IN PENNSYLVANIA.

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I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five. — Steven Wright

You need legal help, and you are resolved to go looking for a good divorce lawyer. You don’t know anyone who knows anyone, so you’re left to your own resources. You are not sure what you’re in for or whether you can afford it, and the last thing you want is to end up saddled with someone who can’t help you or doesn’t care, and there goes the retainer money. Lawyers are as common as grains of sand at the beach, and at first glance they all look pretty much the same. How do you find a divorce lawyer in Pennsylvania? (Well, other than by calling us at our Pittsburgh family law office, that is.)

Why hire a lawyer at all?
Could you handle your own case and keep the money you would have paid? Maybe. Maybe not. People hire lawyers for the same reason that you would hire a roofer when you discover a leak. Technically, there is nothing stopping you from climbing the ladder yourself with a handful of shingles and a box of nails, but most people would rather get help from the person who knows the job and has been doing it for years. Case preparation begins long before you see the inside of a courtroom, and a skilled lawyer can do much more than marshal evidence and stand tall for you in front of the judge; he can offer you not only options you might otherwise have missed, but also ongoing guidance to help you maximize the potential of your situation from the very beginning. A lawyer also has no emotional involvement in your situation, guaranteeing a cool, objective and educated head in your corner at all times.

Throw away your Yellow Pages.
You probably already figured this one out for yourself. For all the money that people still spend on print advertising, it seems to me that overall it is a dead advertising form to find anything at all. An eye-catching ad is no longer enough, whether you are looking for a good lawyer or a good used car. People want to know more about a family lawyer than that he can afford the cost of a print advertisement.

Do your research.
When you look for a used car, you want to know about not just the model, but also the individual vehicle: its mileage, its condition, and its repair history. You want to get behind the wheel and learn something about how it handles on the road during ordinary conditions, and to get an idea of how responsive it will be when things get dicey. You certainly don’t want to be left broken down on the roadside! Since a divorce lawyer’s services can cost you anything from a few hundred dollars (for a simple matter) to the cost of that used car (if your case becomes very contentious), shouldn’t you be just as thorough before you buy?

Word of mouth.
If you don’t already know a good Pennsylvania family law attorney, there is no substitute for a personal referral to find a lawyer. You’re off to an excellent start if someone can tell you, “Attorney __________ handled my divorce and child custody case, and he won’t steer you wrong.” Talk to the lawyer yourself and make your own evaluation, of course, but in a field where the professional license carried by the best lawyer in town is just the same as the license carried by the worst, there is nothing like a good recommendation from a dependable source to get you started on the right path. Even if you don’t know someone who knows someone… maybe you know someone who knows someone who knows someone. These days, asking around can be as simple as posting a Facebook status. Meanwhile…

Look for a lawyer on the Web.
More and more, it seems that if an attorney doesn’t have a good Internet presence he might as well not exist. The Web offers you a chance to see beyond what a divorce lawyer’s advertising firm wants you to know. You can learn in advance what the lawyer has to say (and to say for himself), and what kind of useful information he can offer you, before you even hire him. Professional family law blogs such as this one, web-based informative articles, client reviews, and other convenient online resources allow you to assemble a deeper picture of the professional you are thinking of retaining. In the final analysis, no matter how “corporate” a law firm is, your relationship will be with the individual lawyer who is handling or supervising your case. Get to know him.

Lawyers pay to be found on the Web, of course, just as much as they pay to be found in the Yellow Pages (if not more!). Even if you decide to go through Google or another public search engine that offers results without cost to the sites they show you, you can bet that the law firms showing up at the top of your keyword search paid good money to have their web sites designed and “optimized” to maximize the number of searches that will bring their sites to the top of the list. I certainly did! Read what the websites have to say, but recognize that there is a fair chance that unless authorship is specifically credited to the divorce lawyer you are researching, you are reading professional ad copy written by someone other than the attorney.

If you don’t know where to start, there are plenty of websites designed to help you (some better than others, so use your judgment). Here are a few of them, along with my comments:

Google keyword search. This is a fair starting point. It can be like drinking from a firehose, but with a little patience and judgment you can get some very good basic information about Pennsylvania divorce and family law in general, and about the family lawyers in your area (and what they have to say). Once you have some likely prospects, look particularly for articles, blogs or other writings authored by the divorce attorney you are researching.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board. This will not help you find a lawyer, but it will help you make sure that a lawyer you are investigating is in good standing with the Pennsylvania bar. All lawyers admitted to the bar in Pennsylvania will be registered here.

Avvo. I like Avvo quite a bit. It creates profiles for individual lawyers that they can “claim” and add useful information such as areas of practice and professional history, and — especially important — some of the critical information on the profile is out of the lawyer’s control. The site “rates” lawyers according to an arbitrary point system that I view more than a little skeptically (e.g., young lawyers rated with more experience than old warhorses), but it does identify important information such as the length of time the attorney has been licensed, and whether there have been disciplinary issues. It lets clients rate attorneys. It gives lawyers the opportunity to submit articles that you can access from their profiles, and (for lawyers who participate) you can see how they answered short legal questions posted by others.

Nolo. This is one of many “find a lawyer” directories that might help you narrow the field. This is a directory that lawyers pay to participate in, but it is a handy collection of successful local lawyers in the discipline you seek, along with links to their websites. You can also browse a substantial collection of articles on a variety of legal topics, including articles by divorce attorneys.

Talk to your prospects.
The more involved your case, the closer you are going to be working with your lawyer. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is going to be like working with a mechanic; after all, you can’t just “drop off” your case to a family law practice and come by later to pay the bill and drive it away. Talk to this person, listen to this person, and see how comfortable you feel at the prospect of making important life decisions under this person’s guidance and protection. A lawyer should be willing to give you at least a few minutes on the telephone before charging you anything at all, both to get a sense of your case and to give you a sense of who you are dealing with. Don’t expect the lawyer to give you a full consultation by telephone, or to give you more than about ten or fifteen minutes — our time is what we sell, after all — but that is plenty of time to get at least a general idea of whether this person is worth more of your time, as well as your money.

Value a lawyer’s experience, knowledge and personality over his price.
I realize that this sounds a little self-serving, but give it some thought. There is no virtue in paying more for something than you have to, but neither is there virtue in false economy. All lawyers are not created equal. An inexperienced attorney (no matter how affordable) can give you book-learning, whereas an experienced attorney understands the law and how it applies to your case. An experienced attorney has a strong working familiarity with the court system and its personnel, and can give you not just his own knowledge, but also the experience of many other clients who have faced issues not much different than yours. He can help you learn from the mistakes of others, choose which battles not to fight, and will help you make the most out of your circumstances long before it is time to go to divorce court.

Incidentally, beware of proud-but-empty boasts like, “Over 30 years of combined experience!” Experience doesn’t combine.

A family lawyer’s attitude also matters. There is a particular child support case from several years ago that comes to my mind, in which both parents were full-time, W-2 wage-earners. Because the Pennsylvania Child Support Guidelines are fairly straightforward when nobody is fighting over earning capacity and there are no other issues, I proposed to my opposing counsel that we exchange income information, run the numbers, and see if we could enter into a consent child support order that would spare everyone a trip to court. “No,” said the other lawyer, very matter-of-factly, “If I do that, I don’t get to charge my client to appear at the hearing.” Jaw, meet floor. That’s not how I do business — to my mind, I can’t do that and still call myself a professional — but greedy self-serving lawyers like that are out there. So are the angry ones, so are the cynical ones, so are the self-important and self-impressed ones. So are the inexperienced ones. Even if you find them at a cheaper hourly rate, all of them can end up costing you more money than necessary as they spend extra billable time to berate, inflate or educate at your expense.

Retain the professional, not the price tag.

What to expect from your family law attorney.
I have written a lengthy article about what to expect from a divorce lawyer. If you retain a family practice attorney and he does not appear to be living up to your expectations, never fear getting a second opinion or a “reality check” from another attorney. Never forget that this is your case, and that long after your lawyer has moved on to other matters you will still be living the consequences of your choices. Make sure that you choose a divorce lawyer who seems to understand that essential truth.

If you need legal assistance with your divorce or family law matter in Southwestern Pennsylvania, call my office to set up a personal consultation with a Pittsburgh divorce lawyer. Please do not comment anonymously, and do not post anything that you consider confidential. We try to be responsive to commentary and questions, but know that posting here will not create an attorney/client relationship and that we will not offer legal advice via the Internet.

How to calculate the amount of child support in Pennsylvania

February 2, 2011 · by Pittsburgh Family Law Services, P.C.

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One of the more challenging issues for separated parents to resolve is arranging for child support. In Pennsylvania, provided that the parents agree, there is often no need to go to court. If one parent sues the other, though, support will be calculated according to state guidelines.

The purpose of child support.
Each parent has an obligation under the law to support his or her children. The “custodial parent” (that is, the parent with whom the children spend the majority of their time) fulfills that obligation by maintaining the household in which the children reside, by paying mortgage or rent, buying groceries, maintaining home utilities, keeping the car running, etc. The “noncustodial parent” usually supports the children by paying a certain amount of money each month into the custodial household according to a set of child support guidelines.

There can be frustrations for both the parent who has to pay, and the parent who gets the payment. The first might question whether the money is actually being used directly for the children, and the other might wonder how to meet the needs of active, growing children even with the support money. All of this can create tension for the children if their parents are careless, especially when one or both parents make the mistake of discussing support woes with them or — worse — trying to enlist them in an effort to influence the other parent. Too many children have to listen to statements like, “Your father the cheapskate would rather spend money on his girlfriend,” or “Talk to your mother if you want that; that’s what I pay support for.” Try not to go there.

The Pennsylvania child support guidelines.
When parents go to court, their net monthly income or earning capacity is determined and then child support is calculated by a formula using a guideline chart to determine the presumed correct amount. As you explore the chart, please realize that the guideline is only a starting point. The support number that you end up with can be affected by many considerations such as children of other relationships, certain expenses, and other factors. Please note particularly that when a noncustodial parent has a high percentage of custody time that can reduce his or her monthly obligation, and that an equally-shared custody arrangement also has an effect. Consulting with a family law attorney can help you ensure that you are taking everything into account.

The Pennsylvania Child Support Program website offers a PA child support calculator. As with any online resource (including this one!), use your best discretion and judgment.

Child Support is based on net income.
Usually, this means starting with your annual gross income (or earning capacity), and deducting only income tax obligations (Federal, Social Security/Medicare, state and municipal), union dues, and mandatory retirement contributions. If you don’t want to work from “ballpark” numbers, here are some handy resources I have found to help you with your calculations:
Jim Lange’s 2018-2019 Tax Planning Card
Simple tax calculator (including municipalities)
2017 Earned Income Credit chart (scroll to page 31 for the actual chart)
Pennsylvania Tax Forgiveness tables

Easy taxes to calculate:
Social Security/Medicare in 2017 is 7.65% of gross annual income below $118,500.
Pennsylvania Income Tax in 2017 is 3.07% of gross annual income.
Pittsburgh municipal wage tax for city residents in 2017 is 3% of gross annual income.
Wage tax is 1% of gross annual income for: Edgewood, Fox Chapel, Homestead, McKees Rocks, Monroeville, Munhall, Murrysville, Oakmont, Swissvale and Verona.
Wage tax is 1.3% of gross annual income for: Mt. Lebanon
Wage tax is 1.75% of gross annual income for: Penn Hills

Calculating basic guideline support.
Note: in Pennsylvania, the person paying support is called the “obligor.” The person receiving support is the “obligee.”

1. Add both parents’ net monthly incomes to get a combined income total.

2. Divide the obligor’s net monthly income by the total from number 1, above. This will give you the obligor’s share of the combined income total.

3. Using the leftmost column of the guideline chart, find your combined income total, and then move to the right, to the column for the correct number of children. This is your combined basic child support obligation.

4. Multiply the combined basic child support obligation by the obligor’s share of the parents’ combined income from number 2, above, to get the obligor’s basic monthly child support obligation.

Example: Let’s assume that there are two children, that Father is the obligor and is earning $2,600 net per month, and that Mother is earning $2,200 net per month. Step 1: We add the two incomes to get a combined total income of $4,800. Step 2: We divide Father’s income of $2,600 by the total, and see that he is making about 0.54 (or 54%) of the combined total income. Step 3: According to the guideline chart, the combined basic child support obligation for two children with a combined total income of $4,800 is $1,325. Step 4: Multiplying that total figure by Father’s share of 0.54 yields his basic monthly child support obligation of $716.

Some helpful information.
Cost of medical insurance. If the obligor is maintaining medical insurance for the children at a cost, he or she should get a discount in basic child support obligation equal to the obligee’s proportionate share of the expense attributable to the children. If the obligee is the one maintaining insurance, there is a similar increase in the monthly support obligation. If the children’s share of the expense is not known, the total monthly cost of insurance can be divided by the number of people covered under the policy, and then multiplied by the number of children being supported.

Unreimbursed medical expenses. Usually, the obligee is held responsible for the first $250 per child, per calendar year, in medical expenses that insurance does not cover (such as copayments). After that threshold is reached, unreimbursed medical expenses usually are divided between the parties proportionately to their respective incomes. Keeping good records of expenses and payment is essential.

Child care costs. Usually, child care expenses that are necessary to enable a parent to maintain employment are considered to be the responsibility of both parents, and will be apportioned between them proportionately to their respective incomes in addition to the basic child support obligation.

Support arrears. In Pennsylvania, child support awards made through the court usually have two components: current support, and payment against any arrears. Arrears can accrue because a support obligation is awarded retroactively to the date of the obligee’s claim, or because the obligor did not pay as ordered.

Earning capacity. Sometimes, a parent can be treated as if he or she earns more than he or she is earning from employment. An earning capacity can be assigned, for example, in cases where a parent has chosen not to work (or works “off the books”) to avoid paying support.

If you need legal assistance with your divorce or family law matter in Southwestern Pennsylvania, call us to set up a personal consultation. Please do not comment anonymously, and do not post anything that you consider confidential. We try to be responsive to commentary and questions, but know that posting here will not create an attorney/client relationship and that we will not offer legal advice via the Internet.

How long will my divorce take, if my spouse won't agree?

January 26, 2011 · by Pittsburgh Family Law Services, P.C.

Experienced Pittsburgh Divorce Attorney.
CALL 412-371-4500 FOR YOUR FREE CONSULTATION
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It would be nice (well, nice for everyone except divorce attorneys!) if all divorces were simple, straightforward and friendly. Sometimes, though, one spouse refuses to cooperate to obtain a divorce decree. How long does a divorce take, then?

There are many reasons for a spouse to refuse to sign divorce papers. Some of them are sensible, some of them are strategic, and some of them are just plain contrary. Even reasonable people can disagree; add negative emotions and economic dependence into the mix, and the situation can become even more difficult. Reasons for your husband or wife to refuse to sign divorce papers can include anger, a hope of saving the marriage, emotional pain, a desire for economic benefit, or simply being distracted by other matters. Do not expect a court to order your spouse to sign divorce consent documents, even if he or she once signed a written agreement to do so; that would go against Pennsylvania public policy supporting marriage and families.

Lack of consent to divorce.
In an earlier article, I wrote about Pennsylvania’s two no-fault grounds: Mutual Consent, and Irretrievable Breakdown. The first of these, Mutual Consent, absolutely requires that both you and your spouse sign documents agreeing to obtain a divorce decree some time after a mandatory 90-day waiting period has expired. As the name itself implies, either spouse can bring a Mutual Consent divorce process to a screeching halt simply by refusing to sign the consent forms. There is simply no way in Pennsylvania to force a spouse to sign divorce papers, although in some circumstances there can be negative consequences for the spouse who refuses.

What’s left without mutual consent?
A divorce decree based on the ground of Irretrievable Breakdown requires the court to agree that two things are true: first, that the marriage is irretrievably broken and second, that you and your spouse have been separated for one or more years. Many people in Pennsylvania mistakenly think that divorce is automatic after a separation has lasted for a full year, but it is important for you to understand that where family law is concerned very little happens by itself in the court system.

Instead, once you have reached the first anniversary of your final separation you can sign an affidavit stating the date on which you separated, and that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The form of this affidavit, just as with other Pennsylvania divorce forms, has been set through the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. This paper must be filed with the court and served on your spouse, who then has a total of at least forty days either to deny a one-year separation, to deny that the marriage is irretrievably broken, or to claim economic relief from the court (such as alimony and property division). If your spouse has been properly served with all the necessary documents and then does nothing for a long enough time, the court will assume that your affidavit is true, and will grant your divorce decree shortly after you file the final documents asking for it.

Until Pennsylvania divorce law changed effective December 5, 2016 Pennsylvania required a two-year separation. One quirk of the new law is that the switch applies only to married couples who separated on or after that date; those who separated prior to that date still require a full two-year separation.

Can my spouse still fight a divorce in Pennsylvania even after one year?
Unfortunately, yes. If your husband or wife claims that the marriage is not irretrievably broken or that you have not yet been separated for the full period required by PA law, the court cannot agree with the claims made in your affidavit until the court has heard both sides of the story at a formal hearing. This is true even in extreme cases. Many years ago, I handled a divorce for a woman who had been separated from her husband for well over two years, and her husband was serving a lengthy prison term for the terrible crimes he had committed against his own family. After we served her husband with the divorce paperwork, he filed a response insisting that the marriage was not irretrievably broken. According to him, his wife did not really want a divorce, and the whole affair was really the fault of the state of Pennsylvania, having put him in prison in the first place! We had to go before a judge just to prove that she wanted out of the marriage. We won, of course, but perhaps you can imagine my client’s resentment and frustration at having to face this final, pointless barrier.

I don’t want to wait a year! What about fault divorce?
All the old “fault” grounds for divorce — grounds such as brutality, adultery, and infliction of indignities — are still on the books in Pennsylvania. It is extremely rare, though, for anyone to use them, even when someone is at fault for the end of the marriage. Among the reasons: first, because marital misconduct can be expensive and hard to prove; second, because the spouse proving fault generally must also prove that he or she is “innocent and injured” in what often turns into a he said/she said battle of finger-pointing; and third, because if there is a no-fault ground also available, the court will always prefer it over a fault ground. In real-world terms, it means that you don’t just need ironclad proof that will let you establish your fault ground for divorce, you also need a good prospect that going after it will be cheaper than simply letting a year go by.

Claims for economic relief can extend the duration of the process still further, since some county courts (including Allegheny County, where our Pittsburgh family law office is located) will decline even to begin to decide who-gets-what until either both spouses sign the necessary consent forms, or until the full twelve months have passed since final separation. In the meantime, be sure that you have done what is necessary to survive your separation.

If you need legal assistance with your divorce or family law matter in Southwestern Pennsylvania, call our office to set up a personal consultation with a family legal services attorney. Please do not comment anonymously, and do not post anything that you consider confidential. We try to be responsive to commentary and questions, but know that posting here will not create an attorney/client relationship and that we will not offer legal advice via the Internet.