Hiring the right divorce lawyer has a huge impact on a case. Here are five qualities to consider when looking for the right fit.

2. What makes an attorney a “good divorce lawyer?” Think about all the
lawyers you’ve seen on TV or in movies. Of course, there’s Atticus Finch
from To Kill a Mockingbird. Maybe your parents or grandparents liked to
watch Matlock, Perry Mason, or enjoyed Paul Newman in The Verdict and
Jimmy Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder. Did you grow up watching Law
and Order, Boston Legal, or The Practice? Jack McCoy and Denny Crane
were always interesting and/or entertaining. Do you like to watch Suits?
Harvey Specter is fierce and Tom Cruise was enthralling in A Few Good
Men and The Firm before people became distracted by his religion and
enthusiastic jumping on Oprah’s couch.

3. Really, we could rattle off the names of fictional attorneys from movies, television and John
Grisham novels for hours. We’re lawyers and many of these characters inspired us to join this
profession. When we think about it though, hardly any of these iconic characters were divorce
lawyers. Even the buffoons like Dan Fielding from Night Court and Franklin and Bash were
prosecutors or criminal defense attorneys. After kicking it around, we realized that the only
famous fictional divorce lawyer that came to mind was Arnie Becker from L.A. Law. We guess it
could be argued that Lionel Hutz from The Simpsons practiced family law but he also seemed
to practice every other kind of law as well and wasn’t good at any of it.

4. So how well did Arnie Becker, played by Corbin Bernsen, represent our
profession? From a dramatic television kind of standpoint he was
awesome. He was the first character introduced in the premier episode
and you got a sense of the kind of moral ambiguity he would bring to
the role when he called “dibs” on one of the other partner’s offices as
they were rolling his body out of it following a fatal heart attack. He was
successful as an attorney but lived almost entirely in the gray areas when
it came to following the law and rules in general. There wasn’t much he
wouldn’t do in pursuing romantic conquests and career success. The
show ran for eight seasons and Arnie never really seemed to improve
much as a human being. He was teetering on the brink of destruction
from his behavior and choices right to the very end. In short, he didn’t
really do much for the public image of divorce attorneys but he was
definitely fun to watch.

5. We don’t know how many of you reading this ever saw that program. It certainly made an impression on us
and if you were alive and had even a passing awareness of pop culture between the years of 1986 and 1994,
you were most certainly aware of it. Unfortunately, when it went into syndication, for some reason nearly the
only channel carrying it was the Lifetime Network which is a decidedly “non-dude friendly” channel so a lot of
younger men haven’t had the opportunity to enjoy the greatness that was that program. The show was
applauded for showing a realistic view of lawyers and Harry Hamlin, who played Michael Kuzak on the
program, once stated on the Tonight Show that he regularly received fan mail from real lawyers stating that
they had used his character as inspiration when preparing their closing arguments. Johnny Carson seemed
pretty impressed with that and if you remember him, anyone who ever went on that show lived to impress
Johnny.

6. Unfortunately, most of the accuracy on that program was again
centered around criminal defense attorneys and prosecutors. The Arnie
Becker character was a total, unrepentant dirt bag who couldn’t
possibly be further in character from any attorney in our firm or most
other divorce attorneys we know for that matter. When you think
about it, even non-series regulars who pop up from time to time on
different shows playing divorce attorneys are not caste in a favorable
light. So why does Hollywood either ignore or throw shade at our
profession in almost every situation?

7. We’ll indulge in a little speculation for a moment. Could it be because, as we all know, life is
different in Tinseltown and marriage has a short shelf life for many of its occupants? If you’re a
Hollywood writer, producer or showrunner, you may well have encountered a fierce divorce
attorney during the dissolution of your own marriage and you may have an ax to grind. If you
look at the history of Hollywood, the majority of the interactions between power players and
their spouses divorce attorneys haven’t gone very well for them. As we said, this is just
speculation but in lawyer speak, the facts and evidence make a strong case.

8. So what does a good divorce lawyer look like in the real world? What
traits do they have and what sort of character? As far as we’re
concerned, our attorneys are far more like Atticus Finch and the polar
opposite of Arnie Becker but don’t take our word for it. The occasional
bad review we get in social media tends to come from the opposing party
or clients who refused to follow our counsel. If you look into us we tend
to be loyal and staunch advocates of our clients rights. Our internal
culture is very family-centric. We are a family and the success and
happiness of each individual member of the firm’s families is of primary
importance to all of us.

9. How does that compare to the public expectation of what qualities it takes to be a successful
lawyer? Let’s look at the top five:

10. Are they available? If you hire a successful, in demand attorney, does
he/she have the time to attend to and oversee your case personally? If
you’re just paying for a name but getting a second string player, are you
getting what you pay for? Of course, some firms have no “B team” but the
point is, if you needed a criminal defense, personal injury attorney or tort
lawyer and hired Melvin Belli, William Kunstler, or F. Lee Bailey, you would
probably be unhappy if they never gave you any face time and had their
paralegals do all the work and meetings for them.

11. Do they have skill and experience? This one is fairly self explanatory but it’s always a good
idea to check the track record of your attorney with cases similar to yours before retaining
them.

12. How well do they communicate? This applies to their communication
with you, your spouse and their attorney as well as the court. If they fall
short in any of those areas, you should be concerned. They should be
able to understand and state back what you are communicating to them
in a way that demonstrates that they understand what you are saying. If
they misinterpret something that your spouse’s lawyer or the court is
communicating to them, it could be catastrophic for your case. If you
notice that they’re not picking up what you’re putting down, that’s your
first clue.

13. How is their composure? Having a “hot head” for an attorney won’t do your case any favors.
You need someone who has the composure of Rudy Giuliani on 9/11 or lobbyist Nick Naylor
from Thank You for Smoking. In other words, someone who isn’t easily rattled or provoked.
Staying calm and rational is an essential skill for a lawyer.

14. Do they have the resources and support they will need to successfully
handle your specific case? It is important that your attorney have not
just time, knowledge and skill but also the ability to give your case the
attention it needs for success. If your lawyer is a one man show but
has multiple clients, will they be able to serve everyone’s needs? Do
they have the connections and infrastructure to get the job done?

15. So there you go. If you’ve never had to hire a lawyer before and you’ve realized there aren’t
even very many fictional divorce lawyers available to look to for ideas, this should give you a
template to use. The right lawyer is your metaphorical life preserver in the stormy sea that is
getting a divorce.

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