finding a good divorce lawyer... quick!

[littleornoclue]

My (not d)h and I have separated, he has moved out and finally agreed I am the resident parent as I have brought the kids up. We have agreed contact with him for the kids.

I worked with him in his business so now have no job.

I really need a divorce lawyer to sort things out quickly. My h has got a lawyer already and is likely to be a total arse.

So...
Is it best to go to a big company or a local firm?

How do you know if your lawyer is any good?
Is there anything I should know?

I have asked around but no-one I know can recommend anyone.

Help!

Whereabouts are you, may be able to recommend someone (or warn you off). Tbh, sometimes the big firms are the worst; I have a case on at the moment with a v big firm and they are running the case in an incredibly slipshod way.

Look for someone who's a member of Resolution, pref. also a member of the childrens panel if that's going to be relevant, and at least 5 years post qualification experience.

If you are on legal aid you may be given someone v junior and inexperienced.

Thanks for the reply. I don't fancy putting my location on, feeling a bit vulnerable.

Off to google Resolution...

I saw2 lawyers on the free half hour thing. The woman was great & sympathetic but the male lawyer seemed more matter of fact. They both said the same things but the male lawyer was better at answering questions concisely & could give me worse case scenarios & likely outcomes. I got want I wanted in the financial settlement & was lucky it didn't cost me any money as I was on legal aid.

Agree with mumblechum. If you want a good recommendation you need to give a bit of a clue with regards to location. I can recommend good ones in Surrey and Sussex area.

I would go to citizens advice website, direct gov or to the law society. You may struggle to find a solicitor to take on legal aid cases as funding seems to be very low. i was lucky that i got one, and had an appointment quite quick (booked 23rd december then closed until 3rd jan and got one for the 4th) She did squeeze me in and was running very late but was worth it.

Thanks for your great replies. I have found a fabulously well qualified and experienced one who is in Resolution and everything else.

We had a good chat today and she stopped me from making what I can now see were some very silly financial decisions.

I don't know about legal aid, our earnings are low but we have equity in the house. I will look at the citizens advice.

I like the idea of agreeing a settlement, but my husband got a lawyer before I had even thought about it. Perhaps we can just get legal advice and then try to agree. Would the lawyers be able to help us get an agreement?

We have managed eventually to agree the contact and living arrangements, so there is hope for a friendly settlement.

HOWEVER he broke our original contact agreement and he put me and the kids through hell for a few days by continually re-entering the house and ranting, threatening me with various non-violent but awful things (such as taking the kids, never seeing the kids again, killing himself, moving back in, coming round every evening forever wherever I go and so on). The ranting was not in front of the children thank god, but the coming back in and announcing his return was, sadly.

I don't want him to flip again so it might be best to keep it formal. Any more advice would be fab.

Yes, the lawyers' job is to try to settle the matter without going to court, ie a consent order is agreed and just ratified by a judge without anyone attending court.

If that isn't possible, then in a small minority of cases, court proceedings wil be issued.

And threatening to kill himself or take the children etc is a form of domestic abuse btw. You may well be eligible for mediation, which is the preferred way rather than wasting a courts time. x