What You Need to Know Before Hiring a Child Custody Lawyer

Do you need help with custody and visitation matters in New York? A qualified and licensed NYC child custody attorney can assist you in resolving legal and physical custody issues involving your little ones. In addition, they can help with setting parenting plans and visitation schedules, custody modifications, and more to help ensure that your parental rights are protected while negotiating an arrangement in the child’s best interests.

However, before you go online and search for “Who are the best family court lawyers near me?” take a long, deep breath. When looking for a child custody lawyer in New York, keep in mind that there are some things that your lawyer MUST do for you. What are these things? Let’s find out!

• Follow your directions: You will be the one to live with the final court orders, not your child custody lawyer. Therefore, the final decisions must be yours and yours alone. It is your lawyer’s responsibility to explain what your options are and then pursue your wishes.
• Keep your secrets: You cannot be entirely truthful with your child custody lawyer if they cannot keep your secrets. That is why the attorney-client privilege bars lawyers from disclosing confidential communications between the client and the attorney to others. If you mention something over the phone, though, you lose that privilege.
• Keep you up to date: Your New York child custody lawyer must return your calls, notify you of any settlement offers, and provide you with copies of everything pertaining to your case.
• Be your advocate: Your child custody lawyer’s job is to look out for your best interests. Therefore, they must handle your case with dedication. Should there be a conflict of interest, they must refuse to accept your case.
• Charges you fairly: Your child custody lawyer must clearly explain how you will be charged. Of course, the amount must also be reasonable.

What to do if you are unhappy with your lawyer?

Attorney-client relations in family law are more influenced by personal chemistry than in any other area of law. While you can act as badly as you want (this is not advised, but emotions can run high in such matters), your New York child custody lawyer is bound by a code of professional conduct. If the lawyer is the problem, rather than you, it is usually due to the lawyer’s incompetence. 

A New York child custody attorney may be incompetent due to a lack of legal expertise or knowledge of the subject matter. Family law in New York is a fast-changing profession, and a lawyer who only works part-time may be out of touch. Missing filing deadlines, missing settlement meetings or court appearances, failing to keep you informed, and repeatedly forgetting the facts of your case are all examples of incompetence.

If you are disappointed with the outcome of your child custody case, do not assume your lawyer is incompetent. Every situation has two sides: If you lose, it may not be due to the incompetence of the New York child custody attorney. Instead, you may have had a weak child custody case.

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Created on Jun 10th 2021 04:08. Viewed 219 times.

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