How to Find the Best Divorce Lawyer in El Cajon California?  - Best Affordable Divorce Lawyer near El Cajon

It’s a trick question. You do not need to find the best divorce lawyer in El Cajon, California There are several divorce attorneys in El Cajon that would do an every bit as good undertaking for you. It would be inconceivable to decide on which one is the “absolute best.”

The real concern for you, the El Cajon divorce buyer, is how to locate one of those El Cajon best divorce attorneys at the proper levels of assistance and also cost for the realities of your unique case – while avoiding every one of the typical, and also in some cases harmful, mistakes of the El Cajon divorce lawyer selection decision.

If you know what those mistakes are (I will certainly advise you in this post) and also if you have the right perspective, particularly that you want to make your El Cajon divorce lawyer fit your situation and also not permit the attorney to force your situation to fit his or her stiff practice profile, then you enhance considerably your chances of nailing the El Cajon divorce lawyer employing decision. Getting you through that selection successfully is the intention of this post.

To begin with, let’s note the 4 traits to stay clear of:

1. Avoid Do-It-Yourself Divorce:

It is entirely possible, repeat POSSIBLE, to acquire totally free family law forms from California’s judicial council or family court sites. Those totally free divorce forms will be uncompleted, obviously. You can then attempt to complete and also record the forms at your regional San Diego County divorce court by yourself without expert assistance. This is feasible – however very unlikely, really challenging, complex, discouraging and also very time-consuming.

DIY divorce would be practically out of the question, and also not smart even to try, in any  complex or contended family law proceedings. It would be very unlikely to be a success if you have minor children of the marital relationship or have any property or financial obligations to be listed in case or have custody, visitation or assistance agreements in your proceedings. It would certainly be unwise in a case entailing domestic physical violence. DIY would additionally be hard if you work or if you place any kind of worth on your own time. Family law forms and also procedures are designed by attorneys to perplex you to make sure that you employ – a lawyer.

Please excuse me if I do not invest too much time on the DIY threat. My experience on the front lines of California divorce for the past 40+ years is that folks that start the divorce procedure with the intent to attempt to get a cost-free divorce are going to  attempt Do-It-Yourself divorce whatever. For one reason or another, possibly financial, there is absolutely nothing I have actually had the ability to discover to convince them not to.

Do It Yourself in Family Law is typically fake saving. You WILL almost certainly screw it up, and also screwed-up matters are far more problematic and also expensive to remedy and also complete. Do not play this game. The system is designed by attorneys to perplex you and also force you to employ a divorce lawyer. There are currently cost-effective options available– see listed below. Do not go it alone in Divorce or Family Law.

2. Avoid Traditional El Cajon Family Law Attorneys if Your Case is Likely to be Uncontested:

An uncontested divorce is merely one in which the parties will not be contesting any issues, including the divorce itself. The parties do not have to be cheerful and also they do not have to like each other. They are either totally or mainly in agreement on all issues and also are smart enough to recognize that standard full-representation divorce attorneys (with significant retainers and also billable hours) would be the only winners if they contended fairly insignificant issues in their divorce.

Conventional complete representation by a regional El Cajon divorce lawyer is when that lawyer will represent you in all parts of your divorce matter. It is very likely to be a very good service, but it is really expensive.

If you have a disputed case, a complex case, a high-value case or a case that involves domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, complete representation by a El Cajon divorce lawyer is NOT to be refrained from. It is a prerequisite.

A contested case indicates that you and also your spouse/partner are disputing ANY issue in the case. A complex case consists of legal intricacies such as tax issues, active business issues, a special needs child of the marital relationship or any one of many additional intricate legal issues. A high-value case denotes that your marital estate is huge. There is no particular dollar limit. Definitely, if you have a high 7-figure net marital estate or greater, that is a high-value case.

If you believe that you have a disputed,complex or high-value case, you do. Work with an expert and also expensive El Cajon divorce lawyer for complete conventional representation. Try to find a certified Family Law specialist. You will certainly not be sorry you did.

If you do NOT have a disputed, complex, high-value or domestic violence case, you do NOT require conventional complete representation by a El Cajon divorce lawyer. In fact, under those conditions, complete legal representation by a El Cajon divorce lawyer becomes a threat to your financial position. Steer clear of it.

Obviously, if you call or email a traditional El Cajon divorce lawyer, they will not tell you that you do not require their complete representation service. In fact, they will attempt to frighten the crap out of you by sharing with you that you without a doubt are in need of their service and that your case will get screwed up without it.

That might happen– even in a non-DIY case. I’ll inform you next how to avoid possibly 90+% of the prospective threat of getting your case screwed up if you do not go DIY and you DON’T employ a traditional El Cajon divorce attorney on a full representation basis.

Your case could likewise possibly get screwed up if you DID employ a full representation El Cajon divorce attorney. That’s likewise not likely, but it could occur.

Nevertheless, what will DEFINITELY occur if you employ a traditional complete representation El Cajon divorce attorney to handle your uncontested divorce or family law case is that you will get screwed financially. Your case may be handled effectively, but you will overbuy needless services and you will overpay for them.

There’s no need for that to occur nowadays. Your parents had few other options on their family law employing choices. Your grandparents had no other options. You have numerous legitimate options to make your El Cajon uncontested divorce lawyer employing selection based upon the nature and facts of your case, not upon the BMW payments of El Cajon divorce attorneys. Read on.

3. Avoid Unqualified Unregulated Online Divorce Mills:

This is by far the biggest danger you face in your employing selection in terms of damage to your future legal and financial security. Non-lawyer online divorce is a huge industry. And it is very harmful to your legal and financial future.

Online divorce mills use slick websites, wicked-cool divorce computer software, fees lower than MOST attorneys, no legal advice, no legal understanding, no professional licensing, no legal education, no code of principles, no malpractice insurance, no understanding of San Diego County divorce procedures, no regional understanding about San Diego County rules of court, regional San Diego County forms, regional practices or the policies of individual regional judges in the El Cajon local area and no expert interest in you or your case. And all within a totally unregulated Wild-West industry widespread with all kinds of incompetence, price fraud, and up-selling.

Online divorce mill fees average about $300, but what you get for that $300 charge is incredibly little– just prepared California divorce forms. Any other services supplied are all up-sold on the basis that when they’ve got you hooked, what are you going to do – leave cash already invested? You are at their mercy and you are totally unguarded. And they recognize it!

See the Online Divorce Association of America’s website for a great synopsis of just a few of the more typical scams and up-sells to be discovered in the online divorce industry.

If you hire an online divorce mill, you’ll always be contending with low-level, inexperienced, disinterested, high turn-over staff, call center employees and folks in India, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Mexico or some other state. Nobody will perform any kind of analysis on your case to secure you and any minor children from future legal or financial damage. Client assistance will be terrible due to the fact that it doesn’t have to be anything else. You will never ever be able to consult with anybody at an online divorce mill as it is likely that none are located in El Cajon or even in California

If you employ an online divorce mill thinking you will save yourself a few dollars and you and your household end up spending for their mistakes for many years, that is NOT a cheap divorce!

4. Avoid Me-Too Lawyer Advertising Platforms:

Me-Too Lawyer Advertising Platforms are online lawyer directories like Avvo, FindLaw, LegalZoom, Justia, Google Screened, Google Business Profile (formerly GMB) and now even Yelp. This is the newest pitfall to stay clear of in your El Cajon divorce lawyer employing decision.

Nevertheless, the prospective harm here is not significant– nowhere near the damage done regularly by non-lawyer online divorce mills or undoubtedly the damage most likely to be done by you to your own case with DIY divorce.

If you employ a El Cajon divorce attorney you found on a mass-lawyer finder platform, you’re going to overpay to some extent, depending on just how much the lawyer is paying the lawyer finder platform, but not as terribly as if you had employed a traditional complete representation El Cajon family law attorney directly.

Undoubtedly, you do not want to employ a traditional complete representation El Cajon divorce attorney you find on a mass-lawyer platform. That would intensify your over-payment, but the crucial factor here is that you do not want to employ a traditional complete representation El Cajon divorce attorney to handle your simple uncontested divorce, no matter where you find that lawyer!!

The threat with employing a El Cajon divorce attorney that you stumble on ONLY on a mass-lawyer platform is that you’re hiring an uninspired El Cajon divorce attorney– a drone who just stands in line with all other El Cajon divorce attorneys and HOPES that s/he will get your business but does nothing to set apart himself or herself from the El Cajon lawyer-crowd. That lawyer does nothing to influence you that s/he is the unique solution to your case. You do not want to have that lawyer.

You want a El Cajon divorce lawyer who is innovative, vibrant, distinct, stylish and business-savvy. In fact, why would you employ a El Cajon divorce lawyer to safeguard your own legal and financial interests when s/he does not even take care of his or her own law practice interests aggressively and decisively? You’re looking for a divorce lawyer who intentionally sets himself or herself apart from the El Cajon lawyer-crowd and does NOT blend in by joining Avvo and not doing anything else.

Mass-lawyer finder platforms like Avvo are free of charge to sign up with, which is why every divorce lawyer in San Diego County will have joined. So you ought to not disqualify a El Cajon divorce lawyer only because s/he has an Avvo account.

Nevertheless, you ought to not presume that such a El Cajon divorce lawyer is really good or business-savvy either. The issue is that while these mass-lawyer platforms are free of charge for the lawyer to enroll in, the lawyer will need to then start to pay continually increasing fees on a bid-basis, always battling against other regional San Diego County divorce attorneys, to be seen on the top page of the platform’s website. If that lawyer doesn’t pay extra, s/he’ll be on page 3 or 5 of the mass-lawyer website in even a medium-sized town. If that lawyer doesn’t keep bidding up his or her fees, she’ll not get enough business to keep up.

It’s a winner-take-all system with the top really few attorneys in each town taking almost all the business– based on just how much advertising fees they can pay– not based on how great they are or on how they have configured their offerings to fit your case. The barrier to that me-too lawyer getting your trade is the amount of cash s/he is prepared to pay to get it, not the quality and skill of his or her service offerings.

If that me-too divorce lawyer in El Cajon pays more to the mass-lawyer finder company and keeps paying more, s/he’ll get a highlighted position on the platform’s website and will get more sales, but his or her costs of doing business will constantly increase while his or her fees are fairly set by the flat demand for consumer law services such as divorce.

The El Cajon divorce lawyer who plays the Avvo pay-to-play game will always require a growing number of lower profit cases just to keep up with business costs. You do not desire that business-foolishness in somebody you will rely on with your legal and financial future.

And yes, that lawyer is going to use the same brain to take care of your case as s/he utilized to screw his or her own law practice into the ground.

How to Find the Best El Cajon Divorce Lawyer – Best Affordable Divorce Lawyer near El Cajon

So above are 4 problems to avoid: DIY divorce, old-fashioned full-service lawyer representation in simple uncontested cases, unlicensed and unregulated online divorce mills and boring me-too drone attorneys who are truly bad at business.

So what do you actually look for in a El Cajon divorce attorney?

Before I advise you, I want to set the stage by providing you two exceptional stats that I did not accept when I initially saw them. These are game-changers in the legal profession and you need to maximize them in your El Cajon divorce lawyer selection decision:

1. There is a glut of lawyers on the market and it’s serious. According to the ABA National Lawyer Population Survey, in 2017, the whole legal profession lost some 1400 jobs while almost 20,000 brand new lawyers have been added – just in 2017. And the ABA has just certified a huge new law school down in Texas. And this has been trending for years. And all of this surplus of supply while the demand for legal services has been flat or, as in the case of family law, diminishing because of DIY divorce and the overwhelming success of fraudulent and incompetent online divorce mills (both caused by the Internet).
2. From 1988 to 2012, the average solo lawyer practitioner’s yearly income, after adjusting for inflation, dropped from $70,747 to $49,130. Read that last sentence again. This is based on published data from the IRS compiled from solo lawyer practitioner tax returns for the years specified. The legal profession is in serious economic decline. More so in areas of consumer law, like uncontested divorce, where the Internet has reduced the knowledge gap between lawyers and consumers.

What to Look For:

Business-savvy lawyers who want to participate in the divorce industry are under considerable price and business-model pressure right now. Take advantage! You want to hire a El Cajon divorce lawyer who has responded to this professional crisis in the following ways.

You want as many of the following factors as you can find in one El Cajon divorce attorney:

1. Licensed local El Cajon divorce attorney (not an unlicensed out-of-state online divorce mill);
2. Offers unbundled services in uncontested cases– this suggests that you just purchase the legal services your case requires. You will normally do your own filing of docs at court and arrange for the service of filed docs on your spouse/partner. The divorce lawyer will review your docs before they are filed, determine problem issues in your case and recommend the best options based upon legal advice and regional understanding. If you call a lawyer and inquire about unbundled services and you can tell they do not understand or do not desire you to understand, just hang up. They do not yet get it. Carry on. Do not inform them.
3. Uses online divorce software that enables you to log into a client portal and inputall of the data in your case.  This not only conserves time and money, but it in fact empowers you in your own case. You are the source of all informationin your case. Also, there’s no 50-page paper copyone-size-fits-all questionnaire for you to get through in the lawyer’s waiting room.
4. Uses other cloud-based software and apps – listen for buzz phrases like “client portal” and “virtual law practice.” Ask about e-filing and listen closely to determine if the lawyer even knows what it is.
5. Doesn’t have a fancy office in a downtown high-rise or across from the courthouse. You don’t want to pay those rents. This is even more so during C-19. You’re looking for a lawyer in a strip mall or even one who works at home and has one or more shared office arrangements for client meetings. Don’t use a lawyer who has obviously big expenses – YOU pay them!
6. Look for a competitive edge. Look for a lawyer who understands what is going on around him or her in his or her chosen profession. The practice of law is legal education, knowledge and experience attached to a business model. If you call a lawyer and ask about unbundled services or online divorce interviews and they act like law practice is ONLY a noble profession and not a competitive business, hang up. Don’t educate them. They don’t yet get it.
7. Specialization – You don’t want to hire a lawyer who is a jack-of-all-trades on the basis that s/he might get hired for something. There are many different areas of law practice. They are very different from each other. Specialization is the name of the game today. Look at the lawyer’s website. It will tell you whether s/he is trying to get work in numerous areas of practice. It doesn’t matter if the lawyer handles maybe 2 areas of law, particularly if they are both areas of consumer law, such as divorce and bankruptcy. However, if you see that the primary practice area is DUI or personal injury or criminal law and family law appears to be an add-on, move on. Don’t explain.  Just move on. They do not handle enough family law to be any good.  They use family law as an unwanted add-on.  They will not be experienced enough and they will have to charge you a lot because you will be one of very few family law clients. Also, personal injury law paydays are huge and criminal law cases are critical to someone’s personal freedom. Where do you think your family law case will fit into that lawyer’s busy day?
8. Look for a spark – You are looking for a lawyer who has positioned himself or herself in such a way as to convince you that s/he is the unique local divorce lawyer in El Cajon that is best suited to resolving your case and your specific problems. This is hard to define, but you will understand if that lawyer makes this connection with you. If there is no such spark on the first exposure, there never will be. Move on.
9. Look for Unique Action – Obviously, this does not involve ONLY standing in line with every other lawyer at Avvo or similar me-too lawyer platforms. Avvo owns all of that attorney’s blog posts and may control his or her entire marketing outreach. Avvo takes money from that lawyer in order to sign up more lawyers in El Cajon lawyer-crowd. You’re looking for someone with style who stands out, not melds in. 1-800-DIVORCE is exclusive in El Cajon. There is only one 1-800-DIVORCE lawyer in El Cajon. Check here or complete the web form below to see if El Cajon has a 1-800-DIVORCE.

Divorce and Other Family Law Services Are Available Through 1-800-DIVORCE in Most Medium to Large Cities, Including the Following Cities, As Well As in El Cajon:

San Diego, Chula Vista, Escondido, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Temecula, Murrieta, Irvine, Moreno Valley, Costa Mesa, Corona, Riverside, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Orange, Garden Grove, Anaheim, San Bernardino, Fullerton, Rialto, Fontana, Ontario, Long Beach, Rancho Cucamonga, Pomona, Norwalk, Downey, West Covina, Torrance, El Monte