Tom Petty

The beast has been “woke.” (I hate that colloquialism because I am a grammar freak, but seems right here.)

Clients and potential clients ask me “how much will this cost?” a lot. Honestly, I can only expel air… shrug my shoulders, chuckle. All of those responses are pretty insulting, right? Well, if you knew what I knew, you’d pfft, chuckle and shrug too.

How much a divorce costs depends really on two things: how much the couple still wants to fight and/or whether the attorneys are cooperative with one another. I mean, motion here, motion there… we are getting into some heavy fees. Drafting, revising, communicating to the client, setting for hearing… preparing for the hearing, attending the hearing. That counts for a lot of billable hours and a hefty invoice.

However, if the attorneys can cooperate with one another, if they can reasonably and rationally review the issues (which are essentially two or three things: assets, debts and kids), divorce can be inexpensive. I mean, why shouldn’t the attorneys be able to cooperate? Neither one of them is going through your divorce, no one cheated on anyone, neither is heart-broken, dumped, slighted… or any other of the plethora of reasons couples break up. So be rational, right?

When what should be a simple divorce turns into a sh*t show for lack of communication, lack of effort, lack of willingness to be civil, well, it wakes my beast. I will not build my castle on the broken backs of my clients, but I will not back down either.

I am here if you need me.