DadsDivorce.com provides essential information and resources about divorce, alimony, child support and child custody to men and fathers at any stage of divorce.

by Kristin Zurek of Cordell & Cordell, P.C.

What do you do when you get correspondence from your attorney and you see that your proposed parenting plan and your-soon-to-be ex’s differ by only one overnight? What do you do when you think your soon-to-be-ex has a serious drinking problem, and you think you’d be the better parent to have sole custody? Does custody in either situation just have to be tried? Is the Judge going to try to force custody in either situation to settle?

In many of the jurisdictions in which I practice, the Court has a local rule which requires the parties to attend at least 1-2 hours of mediation when there is a custody issue within the case. If there is no local rule requiring such mediation, there are oftentimes free mediators within the Court system that can be appointed to a case to help to try to resolve custody issues.

by Kristin Zurek, JD of Cordell & Cordell, P.C.

"Today, I had an opposing party yell at me right in the middle of the courtroom... I guarantee that when we get to trial I will use her outburst to my client's advantage."

One of the aspects of family law litigation of which I am keenly aware is that this is emotionally charged litigation. Your family is in crisis, and I am the one charged with helping lead you through this terrible situation. I look at my license on the wall that states that I am an “attorney and counselor” at law, and I understand that a good portion of my day is spent on counseling aspect of my job. As such, I often feel the need while my clients are progressing through litigation to help them keep their emotions in check at the proper times.

by Kristin Zurek, J.D. of Cordell & Cordell, P.C.

I always tell my new clients that we are a team. I tell him that we have to work together and present a united front and work towards the same goals in his case. To that end, I’d like to give you some tips to make the most out of your attorney-client relationship.

*            Have your priorities outlined for your attorney. Tell them if property doesn’t matter to you – you just want to see your children every day. Tell them if you would prefer to keep your 401k in its entirety and you’d rather give her more out of the house. If your attorney knows what is most important to you in your litigation, he or she can keep that in mind when formulating your litigation strategy.