HOW TO SHOP FOR A LAWYER
Questions to ask --
1. How many years have you practiced family law in my county?
2. What percentage of your practice is family law?
3. How many times have you won custody for a dad?
4. Have you ever presented a family law CLE (Continuing Legal Education, for other lawyers)? How many times?
5. Have you every presented a CLE about fathers custody fights or defending Dad from false accusations of domestic violence?
6. Do you receive all the latest Washington appellate court decisions by e-mail? Do you read them the same day they come in?
7. When was the last time you read my county's local rules? The State's Civil Rules and Evidence Rules? 26.09 and 26.50 RCW?
8. Do you read QuickCites? Have you ever contributed any cases to it?
9. When I send money to you, where does it go? How do you get paid?
10. Who will do the work on my case? You? Other lawyer(s)? Other people who aren't lawyers?
11. Have you ever been disciplined by the Bar for unethical misconduct?
MY ANSWERS:
1. I only work in King County and Snohomish County. Practice emphasizing fathers custody fights since 1992.
2. 100% -- essentially all of it for dads (sometimes I represent a mom who is so like a dad, she usually says: "if you can help fathers, you can help me").
3. hundreds of times. A Boeing engineer who studied all the King County divorce files over a three-year period told me I won custody fights for dads 85% of the time.
4. Seven times. I have also been a CLE speaker on other topics, including computer evidence and choice of law principles.
5. Yes, six times. I've also presented a CLE on ethics for family law attorneys that was accredited by the WSBA for judicial CLE credit, the Bar's highest standard; I like to mention this because so many Moms lawyers say I'm an unethical lawyer who will do anything to win. I represented Dad in a Relocation Act objection mock trial that was decided by a real judge -- I won.
6. Yes, I read all the family law (and related) opinions. almost always the same day they are released -- not only to find the law, but also to scout the judges. I always at least speed read ALL the decisions -- family law or other, published and not published -- as soon as I can. You have to read the new statutes enacted by the legislature (I do) and the appellate court decisions if you want to keep up with changes in the law.
7. I subscribe to Tegland's Litigation Today, which reports all changes in the rules of evidence and the rules of civil procedure, and also reports and analyzes all new evidence and civil procedure opinions. I've heard other lawyers say, after a trial, that I know the rules of evidence by heart; that's not 100% true, but it's almost true. I say: if you wanna play the game, you gotta know the rules.
8. QuickCites is published by the WSBA Family Law Section. It is an excellent summary of all the appellate decisions that control family law. Yes, I read it, and yes, I have contributed cases to it.
9. I like to work on a flat fee basis. The Bar's ethics rules require us lawyers to deposit flat fees into our general accounts. Sometimes I get paid by the hour from advanced fees and costs deposited in my IOLTA Client Trust Account.
10. I do. No work is done by rookie lawyers or non-lawyers, except for non-lawyer services, such as service of process by ABC Legal Messengers. Sometimes a case needs two lawyers, so I bring in another lawyer, always a veteran.
11. No, I have never been disciplined by the Bar. (You can check a lawyer's credentials, including discpline, if any, on the WSBA's website; click on the Lawyer Directory link at http://pro.wsba.org/.)
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If you already have an attorney: your case file belongs to you.
If your attorney refuses to give you your file (because you haven't paid your attorney in full or for any other reason), or your attorney refuses to give you your file unless you pay to copy it (and you did not expressly agree to this charge when you hired your attorney), tell your attorney: “You must give me my case file immediately (and without charging me to copy it) or else I will file a grievance against you with the WSBA under Formal Ethics Opinion 181.”
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If you want to hire me to represent you, or if you just want to hire me for a consultation, the best way to contact me is to send me an e-mail briefly telling me what's going on in your case and what you want me to do for you.
I am only licensed to practice law in the State of Washington and so cannot give legal advice about cases in other states or nations.
I consult for clients with cases in all Washington counties, but only represent clients with cases in either King or Snohomish County.
Joshua Foreman Attorney at Law