How to Find the Best Divorce Lawyer in El Monte California?  - El Monte DIvorce Lawyer | California Family Law Attorney

It’s a trick question. You do not want to locate the most effective divorce lawyer or attorney in El Monte, California There are lots of divorce attorneys in El Monte that will do an equally great job for you. It would definitely be out of the question to figure which one is the “very best.”

The correct issue for you, the El Monte divorce buyer, is just how to find just one of those El Monte top divorce attorneys at the appropriate levels of assistance and also expense for the realities of your particular scenario – while steering clear of all of the common, and also sometimes harmful, risks of the El Monte divorce lawyer hiring choice.

If you know what those risks are (I will inform you in this blog post) and also if you have the correct perspective, specifically that you intend to make your El Monte divorce lawyer fit your situation and also not permit the attorney to compel your situation to fit his or her stiff practice profile, then you enhance significantly your chances of nailing the El Monte divorce lawyer employing choice. Getting you through that choice effectively is the intention of this post.

Initially, let’s note the 4 aspects to steer clear of:

1. Avoid Do-It-Yourself Divorce:

It is conceivable, 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 blank, obviously. You can at that point attempt to complete and also file the forms at your local Los Angeles County divorce court on your own without expert assistance. This is possible – however highly unlikely, very challenging, confusing, aggravating and also exceptionally time-consuming.

DIY divorce would certainly be practically out of the question, and also not wise even to try, in any kind of  complex or contested family law proceedings. It would certainly be highly unlikely to be successful if you have minor children of the marriage or have any kind of property or financial obligations to be detailed in the event or have custody, visitation or assistance settlements in your matter. It would definitely be reckless in a case involving domestic violence. DIY would certainly also be tough if you work or if you put any sort 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 spend way too much time on the DIY threat. My experience on the cutting edge of California divorce for the past 40+ years is that folks that begin the divorce process with the intent to attempt to obtain a free divorce are most likely to  attempt Do-It-Yourself divorce no matter what. For one reason or another, possibly economic, there is nothing I have actually been able to find to convince them not to.

DIY in Family Law is always fake economy. You WILL almost certainly screw it up, and also screwed-up matters are much more troublesome and also very expensive to fix and also finalize. Do not play this game. The system is designed by attorneys to perplex you and also compel you to hire a divorce lawyer. There are currently affordable options readily available– see below. Do not go it alone in Divorce or Family Law.

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

An uncontested divorce is merely one in which the litigants will not be disputing any kind of concerns, including the divorce itself. The litigants do not need to be cheerful and also they do not need to care for each other. They are either totally or mostly in agreement on all concerns and also are wise enough to realize that traditional full-representation divorce attorneys (with substantial retainers and also billable hours) would certainly be the only victors if they contested reasonably unimportant concerns in their divorce.

Traditional complete representation by a regional El Monte divorce lawyer is when that lawyer will represent you in all aspects of your divorce matter. It is highly likely to be an excellent service, but it is very costly.

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

A contested matter signifies that you and also your spouse/partner are disputing ANY issue in the matter. A complex matter includes legal intricacies such as tax concerns, current business concerns, a special needs child of the marriage or any one of numerous additional complicated legal situations. A high-value case indicates that your marital estate is large. There is no particular dollar limit. Absolutely, if you have a high 7-figure net marital estate or higher, that is a high-value matter.

If you suspect that you have a disputed,complicated or high-value matter, you do. Hire an experienced and also expensive El Monte divorce lawyer for complete conventional representation. Try to find a certified Family Law specialist. You will 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 Monte divorce lawyer. In fact, under those conditions, complete legal representation by a El Monte divorce lawyer becomes a risk to your economic position. Stay clear of it.

Naturally, if you call or email a traditional El Monte divorce lawyer, they will not tell you that you do not require their complete representation service. In fact, they will attempt to scare the crap out of you by advising you that you absolutely are in need of their service and that your case will get screwed up without it.

That could possibly happen– even in a non-DIY case. I’ll inform you next how to steer clear of possibly 90+% of the potential threat of getting your case screwed up if you do not go DIY and you DON’T hire a traditional El Monte divorce attorney on a complete representation basis.

Your case might also possibly get screwed up if you DID hire a complete representation El Monte divorce attorney. That’s also not probable, but it could possibly take place.

Nevertheless, what will DEFINITELY take place if you hire a traditional complete representation El Monte 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 unneeded services and you will pay too much for them.

There’s no requirement for that to take place any longer. Your parents had few other options on their family law employing decisions. Your grandparents had no other options. You have lots of legitimate options to make your El Monte uncontested divorce lawyer employing choice based upon the nature and truths of your case, not upon the BMW payments of El Monte divorce attorneys. Keep reading.

3. Avoid Unqualified Unregulated Online Divorce Mills:

This is by far the biggest risk you face in your employing choice in regards to damage to your future legal and economic safety. Non-lawyer online divorce is a big market. And it is exceptionally harmful to your legal and economic future.

Online divorce mills offer slick sites, wicked-cool divorce software, charges lower than MOST attorneys, no legal advice, no legal understanding, no professional licensing, no legal education, no code of ethics, no malpractice insurance, no understanding of Los Angeles County divorce policies, no local understanding about Los Angeles County guidelines of court, local Los Angeles County forms, local practices or the policies of specific local judges in the El Monte region and no professional interest in you or your case. And all within a completely uncontrolled Wild-West market rampant with all kinds of incompetence, price fraud, and up-selling.

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

See the Online Divorce Association of America’s website for a great summary of merely some of the more common scams and up-sells to be found in the online divorce market.

If you employ 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. No one will carry out any kind of analysis on your case to safeguard you and any minor children from future legal or monetary damage. Customer assistance will be horrible since it doesn’t need to be anything else. You will never ever have the ability to meet anybody at an online divorce mill as it is highly likely that none lie in El Monte and 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 paying for their errors for years, that is NOT an inexpensive 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 latest risk to steer clear of in your El Monte divorce lawyer employing choice.

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

If you employ a El Monte divorce attorney you found on a mass-lawyer finder platform, you’re going to pay too much to some extent, depending on how much the lawyer is paying the lawyer finder platform, but not as severely as if you had employed a traditional complete representation El Monte family law attorney straight up.

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

The threat with employing a El Monte divorce attorney that you discover ONLY on a mass-lawyer platform is that you’re employing a second-rate El Monte divorce attorney– a drone who simply stands in line with all other El Monte divorce attorneys and HOPES that s/he will get your trade but does nothing to differentiate himself or herself from the El Monte lawyer-crowd. That lawyer does nothing to persuade you that s/he is the best solution to your case. You do not wish to have that lawyer.

You want a El Monte divorce lawyer who is imaginative, strong, unique, classy and business-savvy. In fact, why would you employ a El Monte divorce lawyer to oversee your own legal and economic interests when s/he does not even take care of his or her own law practice interests strongly and decisively? You’re trying to find a divorce lawyer who intentionally sets himself or herself apart from the El Monte lawyer-crowd and does NOT blend in by signing up with Avvo and doing nothing else.

Mass-lawyer finder platforms like Avvo are free of charge to join, which is why every divorce lawyer in Los Angeles County will have joined. So you should not disqualify a El Monte divorce lawyer just because s/he has an Avvo account.

Nevertheless, you should not think that such a El Monte divorce lawyer is very good or business-savvy either. The issue is that while these mass-lawyer platforms are free of charge for the lawyer to register with, the lawyer will need to then begin to pay constantly increasing charges on a bid-basis, always contending versus other local Los Angeles County divorce attorneys, to be seen on the leading 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 charges, she’ll not get adequate cases to stay in business.

It’s a winner-take-all system with the leading very few attorneys in each town taking almost all cases– based on how much advertising charges 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 case is the quantity of cash s/he is prepared to pay to get it, not the quality and distinctiveness of his or her service offerings.

If that me-too divorce lawyer in El Monte pays more to the mass-lawyer finder platform and keeps paying more, s/he’ll get a highlighted position on the platform’s website and will get more business, but his or her costs of working will continuously increase while his or her charges are reasonably set by the flat need for consumer law services such as divorce.

The El Monte divorce lawyer who plays the Avvo pay-to-play game will always require a growing number of lower profit cases simply to stay on top of business costs. You do not want that business-foolishness in someone you will trust with your legal and economic future.

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

How to Find the Best El Monte Divorce Lawyer – El Monte DIvorce Lawyer | California Family Law Attorney

So above are 4 concerns to keep away from: DIY divorce, conventional full-service lawyer representation in easy uncontested cases, unlicensed and uncontrolled online divorce mills and uninspiring me-too drone attorneys who are actually bad at law practice business.

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

Before I inform you, I want to set the stage by providing you two remarkable stats that I did not presume true when I first saw them. These are game-changers in the legal profession and you really need to make the most of them in your El Monte divorce lawyer employing choice:

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 Monte 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 Monte divorce attorney:

1. Licensed local El Monte divorce attorney (not an unlicensed out-of-state online divorce mill);
2. Offers unbundled services in uncontested cases– this means that you only purchase the legal services your case requires. You will generally 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 submitted to court, identify problem issues in your case and recommend the very best options based upon legal advice and local understanding. If you call a lawyer and inquire about unbundled services and you can determine they do not understand or do not want you to understand, simply hang up. They do not yet get it. Move on. Do not inform them.
3. Uses online divorce software that allows you to log into a client portal and inputall of the data in your case.  This not only conserves money and time, but it literally empowers you in your own case. You are the source of all informationin your case. Likewise, there’s no 50-page paper copyone-size-fits-all questionnaire for you to get through in the lawyer’s waiting area.
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 Monte 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 Monte lawyer-crowd. You’re looking for someone with style who stands out, not melds in. 1-800-DIVORCE is exclusive in El Monte. There is only one 1-800-DIVORCE lawyer in El Monte. Check here or complete the web form below to see if El Monte 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 Monte:

Downey, Norwalk, Los Angeles, Fullerton, Pomona, Anaheim, Burbank, Inglewood, Garden Grove, Ontario, Orange, Long Beach, Torrance, Santa Ana, Rancho Cucamonga, Huntington Beach, Corona, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Fontana, Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Riverside, Rialto, San Bernardino, Lancaster, Simi Valley, Moreno Valley, Thousand Oaks, Victorville