Help Yourself

Some people are choosing to take more control over their divorce process, tackling some of the tasks usually completed by divorce lawyers. Although everyone wants to have more control over their lives, few people have the qualifications or skills to represent themselves in court. Here's information on how to tell if you're a good candidate for limited legal services, and some advice on how to share tasks with your divorce attorney.

By M. Sue Talia

A new phenomenon is changing the face of family law and altering the way people approach their divorces. More specifically, it is altering the manner in which legal services are provided in divorce law. Under the old paradigm, each party to a divorce hired a divorce lawyer to handle all aspects of the case, giving the family attorney full responsibility and power over strategy and tactics. Today, some clients are demanding, and family lawyers are offering, limited legal services. This means that a divorce lawyer is retained only for specific tasks or limited substantive issues, or even as a "coach" doing little more than showing the client how to represent him or herself.

The reasons for these changes are complex. First and foremost, the court system is breaking down. As presently configured, the courts are simply unequipped to handle the deluge of divorce cases and family-law matters presented to them. Simultaneously, individuals are demanding greater control over their own life choices. This includes not only taking control back from divorce lawyers, but even from the courts themselves. Much is written about the so-called "pro per crisis" in California and in other states, where phenomenally high numbers of family law litigants choose to represent themselves in family court. Sometimes as many as 75% of the cases have at least one side in pro per (the terms pro per and pro se are used interchangeably -- they mean a litigant who represents him or herself in court). Frequently these choices result solely from financial necessity. However, in more and more cases, people who can afford divorce attorneys insist on doing it themselves.

This is entirely new ground for both family lawyers and litigants, and they are feeling their way as they redefine the traditional attorney-client relationship. In some states, the situation is complicated by the fact that it is being done under the disapproving eye of the state bar association; in others, it has official endorsement. (Oregon is a notable example, as is the experiment in Maricopa County, Arizona.)

No one wants to be forced to obtain and pay for services they don't want, simply because some regulatory agency insists upon it. What follows is designed to help you make the best possible decision while alerting you to common pitfalls.

If you're among those family law litigants who insist on having greater control over the process, increasing the scope of your own involvement and limiting that of your divorce lawyer, God bless. Remember, however, that taking responsibility means precisely that: taking responsibility. Be sure that you're qualified to perform the tasks you undertake, and then do so. If you want to be the one who makes the decisions about your divorce, you must be prepared to live with the consequences of those decisions, even if they turn out differently than you hoped or expected.

Many pioneering family lawyers are willing to offer limited legal services to help you handle some or all aspects of your own divorce. Does this mean that even with an excellent "coach" you're going to know as much about divorce law and family law as your family-law attorney does? Of course not. However, if you're willing to educate yourself on divorce law and the procedures as they apply to your case, and make careful decisions about how much of the legal work you can do yourself and what should be delegated to a specialist, you may be happier with the outcome than with the traditional approach. It does not, however, guarantee that you're going to get everything you want, any more than you would have under the old system.

Therefore, be honest with yourself and your divorce lawyer about your abilities and instructions, educate yourself where necessary, and delegate to your divorce attorney those tasks or issues that you aren't qualified to handle. The point is to work as a team with your family attorney to obtain the best possible result.