Pros/Cons of hiring divorce attorney not from the area?

[jakep]

What is the name of your state? OK

Live in a small area with only 5 or so divorce attorney. Wife hired one, one doesn't answer phone, spoke to the other three...all nice but no bite.

Wife is a chronological liar and I know will lie about everything including sending in fake bank reports and what not. Need a lawyer who will fight this. None of the ones in town seems like they even care. Wife probably spent $200k last year (which is like half of her money) on her daughter's wedding, son's tuition, down payment for daughter's house etc. We don't have any kids together.

Have a lawyer a family member recommended and we spoke on the phone and I really like him, but he's in another part of the state 2 hours away. I understand I'll be paying for his driving, but what are the pro/cons of hiring someone not in the area and never seen the judge?

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Pros:
You like the guy.

Cons:
Travel expenses
He doesn't have the experience with the local courts the local guys have.

 

[stealth2]

Another consideration - can you take multiple days off work if you need to meet with him in person?

 

[commentator]

From many years of having lived in a small town, I'd say that knowledge of and being known by the judges in the local courts is going to be pretty important. I'd bet there is a "killer" attorney, the divorce lawyer who is famous in your small town for raking everything out of his client's soon to be ex. These guys usually have a huge retainer they get at the beginning, and are known to scare hell out of the opponent.
(Oh my God, she's hired Larry Legal!) Sounds like your wife has hired this guy. But remember, the judges know who he is, what his usual techniques are, and they don't necessarily believe everything or enjoy giving his clients all they demand.

And then there are the other attorneys, all of whom practice in front of these judges regularly and are known by them, as attorneys make a point to know the judges. Credibility and integrity are important in small court systems. My attorney in a divorce was reputed in our small town to be "solid gold" as far as being a nice guy. He was also a pushover who for religious reasons, deep in his heart didn't believe people should ever get divorced anyhow. He was all about reconciliation, giving the benefit of the doubt, not pushing things aggressively. As you said, nice, but no bite. I didn't do all that well in the situation. But then, half of nothing is nothing anyway. He is now a judge. This guy isn't really going to be impressed by Larry Legal's demanding style.

It just doesn't work to bring in a hired gun who's not going to be both well perceived locally and highly competent. It will, in any case, be somewhat expensive. Does this guy have a proven record of success in divorce proceedings? If so, why does he need to take business from far away? Make sure you are getting what you pay for. If he is as good as you hope he is, the first thing he will tell you is to sit down and shut up and let him control the action. That your wife is a "chronological liar" (think perhaps you mean pathological) is not something that anybody is going to want to bring up in a court of law. If you are going to want to dictate to your attorney how this goes, what he does, you might as well take one of the locals for less expense.

 

[Zigner]

Wife is a chronological liar ...

Just FYI - the word you're looking for is "pathological".

 

[stealth2]

Just FYI - the word you're looking for is "pathological".

Unless she lies about when things occurred...

 

[stealth2]

Anecdotally... When I filed for a CS modification, my ex (who lived a distance away) hired a lawyer also from a distance away (though not quite so far). I had a local attorney (note: this is an area that has no dearth of family law attorneys). His lawyer was good - I won't deny that (and I would have referred people in that area to her). But I do think his representation suffered from his inability to meet with her in person as well as her lack of personal knowledge of the local courts/our judge. He also spent a hella lot more than he needed to by paying her (significant) travel expenses.

Might want to do a cost/benefit analysis.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state? OK

Live in a small area with only 5 or so divorce attorney. Wife hired one, one doesn't answer phone, spoke to the other three...all nice but no bite.

Wife is a chronological liar and I know will lie about everything including sending in fake bank reports and what not. Need a lawyer who will fight this. None of the ones in town seems like they even care. Wife probably spent $200k last year (which is like half of her money) on her daughter's wedding, son's tuition, down payment for daughter's house etc. We don't have any kids together.

Have a lawyer a family member recommended and we spoke on the phone and I really like him, but he's in another part of the state 2 hours away. I understand I'll be paying for his driving, but what are the pro/cons of hiring someone not in the area and never seen the judge?

Did you mean pathological or compulsive? Because a "chronological liar" would mean she is lying about time.


Pro of hiring a local attorney: S/he knows the judges/court better. You won't be paying for travel time which can really add up.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? OK

Live in a small area with only 5 or so divorce attorney. Wife hired one, one doesn't answer phone, spoke to the other three...all nice but no bite.

Wife is a chronological liar and I know will lie about everything including sending in fake bank reports and what not. Need a lawyer who will fight this. None of the ones in town seems like they even care. Wife probably spent $200k last year (which is like half of her money) on her daughter's wedding, son's tuition, down payment for daughter's house etc. We don't have any kids together.

Have a lawyer a family member recommended and we spoke on the phone and I really like him, but he's in another part of the state 2 hours away. I understand I'll be paying for his driving, but what are the pro/cons of hiring someone not in the area and never seen the judge?

I think you meant pathological liar rather that chronological liar.

The downside to hiring an attorney from another part of the state is that he won't be familiar with the climate of your local courts. The other downside is also the extra cost involved. You will be paying for 4 extra hours of his time every time he has to come to court.

The potential upside to hiring someone from that far away is that he won't be part of the "clique" and therefore won't care if he steps on any toes.

Have you thought of looking for someone not quite that far away? Just shortening that distance to one hour would save you a ton of money.

 

[FlyingRon]

Or "chronic." While chronological and chronic come from the same Greek root meaning "concerning time." Chronic means long-lasting, lingering, continuous, or constant. Chronological means that the described word has concerns time. It would imply they were lying about the timing of something rather than someone who lies all the time.

 

[Taxing Matters]

A view from a practicing lawyer: it is far more important that you like your attorney and feel that your attorney will really do a good job for you — meaning that the attorney is both experienced in divorce matters in your state and is actually interested in representing you — than it is that the lawyer be in the county where the divorce is going to be litigated. You are likely going to be dealing with this divorce case for many months and paying the attorney a significant chunk of money and you want to feel confident that this lawyer has your back.

While an attorney in that county will know the judges and other attorneys better than an attorney who does not often litigate in that county, that can be a two edged sword. It can help where negotiating is important and you are relying on good relationships, but of course that assumes that there are good relationships there. That might help you win concessions that you might not get with an outside lawyer. On the other, that may also mean your lawyer pushes you to make concessions to help his lawyer friends, too, that an outside lawyer might not make. And if the local attorney you pick is actually not liked in that local legal community it works against you and you'd be better off with someone from the outside.

There is some risk of being "hometowned" by the local judge when using a lawyer from outside the local community, meaning that judge significantly favors the local lawyers over others. Most judges don't do that, but in my experience there are a few out there that do. Hard to know in advance which kind of judge you have. My firm represents clients throughout my state and in most instances we haven't had much trouble with that, but it has happened once in the last two years.

There is, of course the extra cost of travel for your lawyer to attend hearings, depositions, etc in your county. You want to control costs where you can, but not at the expense of a lawyer who isn't really that interested in pursuing your case.

Does this guy have a proven record of success in divorce proceedings? If so, why does he need to take business from far away?

Because the attorney is interested in the case and doesn't spurn cases just because the court is not located in his/her local area. Unless the lawyer really hates travel, what real difference does it make if the client walking in the door is in the same city or a couple hour drive away? I don't care where in the state my clients are, so long as they are willing to pay the travel costs for the times I need to go out there, and I make sure they understand up front what those costs will be.

 

[zddoodah]

Wife is a chronological liar

So...she lies about what time things occurred?

and I know will lie about everything including sending in fake bank reports

What is a bank report? Did you mean statements?

Have a lawyer a family member recommended and we spoke on the phone and I really like him, but he's in another part of the state 2 hours away. I understand I'll be paying for his driving, but what are the pro/cons of hiring someone not in the area and never seen the judge?

Well...an obvious "con" of having a lawyer with no experience with your local judge(s) is that...well...he has no experience with your local judge(s). Kinda obvious. Being billed for travel is an obvious con, but there may be relatively few court appearances. I can't think of any pros, but having a lawyer you like and are comfortable with and whom you believe will fight for your interests is important, regardless of where the lawyer's physical office is.

Because the attorney is interested in the case and doesn't spurn cases just because the court is not located in his/her local area. Unless the lawyer really hates travel, what real difference does it make if the client walking in the door is in the same city or a couple hour drive away? I don't care where in the state my clients are, so long as they are willing to pay the travel costs for the times I need to go out there, and I make sure they understand up front what those costs will be.

I agree. I've had cases on the other side of the country. It's not a matter of "need[ing] to take business from far away" (and two hours is hardly "far away").