What If I Can’t Find a Lawyer Who Can Help Me OR I Find Lawyers Who Can’t Help Me Right Away

1. Start your education process. 

Start your education process. As I’ve discussed in other posts:

• Between a Rock and a Hard Place: How to Get Unstuck When You’re Self-Represented
• Why You Should Budget Your Family Law Case Like A Vacation
• What Makes Family Law Cases Expensive
• How to Reduce the Costs in Your Family Law Case

There is a lot to learn when you find yourself in court.

Clearly you aren’t expected to learn all the fine point of law, master the procedures or get a crash course in lawyering. But you can get a basic understanding of your rights, your obligations and the legal process. You can start to learn the basic terms and legal concepts so that on the day of your meeting, you’re already informed.

The Oregon Judicial Department website has self-help guides as does your court clerk and of course, we offer Legal Orientations which give you an overview of the process in oregon.

Instead of having the lawyer explain everything to you (while the clock is running), you can give yourself a head start. Use this time now to get the basics down so you can spend the time with your lawyer verifying your understanding, figuring out your approach and getting specific legal advice.

2. Get Clear on What You Want.

Get clear on what you want. I’ve written a number of times about the plain fact that you have a 90% or better chance that your case is going to settle out of court.

For this reason, you want to put your effort into figuring out as soon as possible what a good settlement will look like for you. And, more importantly, you want to set those wheels in motion by having a clear sense of: what is negotiable; what isn’t (a bottom line/deal breakers). That way, when you do meet with your lawyer, you can tell him or her what you want and empower them to start negotiating for you.

Don’t let your case be “settled on the courthouse steps” after you’ve waited months and spent thousands of dollars preparing for a trial you didn’t actually need had settlement just been started sooner.

3. Start pulling together key documents and making a list of those you need but don’t have.

Start pulling together key documents and making a list of those you need but don’t have.

For better or worse, much of the key points in your life have a paper trail. This goes for property ownership, spending, household budgets, the medical and educational lives of your children, earning capacities etc. Every month you get bank statements, bills, credit card statements, reports from school, medical appointment records. These all tell the story of your life.

Start pulling them together so that when you meet with your lawyer, you are able to give them information to start planning your case settlement OR figuring out your trial plan if things can’t be resolved. You may not have everything but even putting together a list of what you need and where you think it’s located will help move the process along.

4. Start a timeline of important dates and events in the life of your family.

Start a timeline of important dates and events in the life of your family.

You, like every client, have an advantage over their lawyer, the other lawyer and the judge: you’re the expert on your life. You know what happened when; who was involved; where things happened, when and why. Start writing it down as a timeline to share with your lawyer.

The lawyer will thank you as it makes it easy to see at a glance what took place over the years of your life.

You are putting the facts together for your lawyer so they don’t have to figure it out for themselves from your documents (though most will want to use the documents as proof for the court, you are saving them time and energy.

Your pocketbook will also thank you: most lawyers can read faster than conversations take to have. Anything that saves your lawyer time, saves you money.

This will also help you do #3 (above).

For example, if an issue in your case is who served as the primary caregiver, write out the things you did, looking at emails with schools, doctors and coaches. If your case is about support, then having a timeline for major purchases will remind you about the kinds of documents you need to show where the money came from to buy them.

5. Start putting together a list of the people who have information helpful to your case.

Start putting together a list of the people who have information helpful to your case.

Often, there’s not just a paper trail to your life, there are also witnesses. These are friends, family members, teachers, employers, accountants and neighbors who saw how you lived, parented, spent, planned and earned money. Not all of these people will be witnesses at a hearing or trial (remember, you’re unlikely to resolve your case by a trial) but they can fill in information for you and your lawyer. They can back up what you are saying and/or add details you may not have or remember. P

utting together a list of people including their contact information and the general subjects they can discuss will be helpful when your lawyer is going through an analysis of your case.

Remember, time is money so if you can save time, you are saving money. Again, this relates to #3 and #4 above and can be done at the same time.

Just set up three documents: Events; documents and people.