Most people become quite nervous when they have to reveal many things about a private period in their lives that were once confidential and taken for granted. This only makes matters worse and makes a visit with the lawyer discomforting if you can't think what to ask and of course ease your nerves and anxiety. Hopefully these following questions will help you get through the meeting with the attorney without too much trouble.

These questions are important in that you should ask them of any divorce lawyer you are considering to help you through your case. Divorce lawyers differ in their approach from firm to firm and even though they have the same laws to work with.

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- How long have you been practicing law?

- How much of your entire practice is specifically in family law?

- What is your hourly rate?

- Do you have other people who usually work on your cases with you? If so, what is their profession and experience?

- What do you charge for their time?

- What do you anticipate is the role that these people will have in my divorce?

- What is the retainer amount? Is any of it refunded if I should change my mind or we decide to not go through with the divorce?

- What other types of charges besides attorneys fees are there likely be? (Long distance telephone, copies, facsimile charges, etc.)

- Describe a time line for how you believe my divorce will progress.

- Do you have a set procedure for handling a divorce case? If so, please describe how you would proceed with a typical divorce case.

- What do you expect from me as a client?

- What percentage of your divorce cases are resolved by a trial versus the percentage that are settled?

Important: Once you've gained the answers to the questions above and any additional questions you may have added, be sure to ask what expectations do they have in relation to the outcome of the case given the information you have supplied. If you find they brush off any real answer, you may want to keep on looking. If they can't give you a rough idea (based on your principal input) then this is not any good to you. You need to know approximately where you stand for many financial and planning purposes.