Unless you’ve already dealt with the difficult ins and outs of the divorce process, you may find yourself meeting with lawyer after lawyer trying to find the right fit. While meeting with a potential family lawyer serving Wichita may be time-consuming, finding the right fit is the key to a faster, less-expensive divorce. Luckily, you can speed up the process of hiring a family lawyer by knowing what to look for ahead of time.

Be realistic

You need to remember that divorce is a legal process in which you dissolve your assets and resolve custody issues. Consequently, your divorce lawyer’s job is to represent you to the best of his or her abilities. Even though this is an emotional time, your divorce attorney isn’t there to listen to your anger, frustration, pain and sadness. Using a family attorney as a therapist is a gross misuse of your money, as he or she won’t be trained to help you in that way. It’s much healthier to begin this process with realistic expectations of your attorney’s role throughout your divorce proceedings.

Know what you want

Before you begin contacting family law attorneys, consider what you want from the divorce process. For example, you may be interested in other alternatives to traditional litigation, especially if you and your spouse don’t have children or considerable finances. In this case, working with a mediator may be a better way to negotiate the terms of your divorce. However, if your mediations are complicated, you may want to consider working with a divorce lawyer that can negotiate a settlement on your behalf.

Identify potential attorneys

Not all lawyers are the same, so you don’t want to jump and hire the first one you meet with. You should interview with at least three attorneys before you make your final hiring decision. While every attorney you meet with should specialize in family law, your ideal attorney has the legal knowledge and experience to help you understand the process. Your attorney should also have experience handling cases in your specific court system.

Public law attorneys counsel cities, counties and economic development agencies on various legal matters. For example, a business law firm in Wichita can offer its experience in affordable housing, downtown revitalization, industrial development and infrastructure development matters. In handling annexation and eminent domain cases, a business lawyer involved in public law works with IRBs, TIF districts, and utility districts.

In addition to representing local government agencies, a business lawyer practicing public law represents chambers of commerce, civil leagues, citizens groups and advocacy organizations. A tax lawyer can also help these entities with organizational formation and IRS tax exemptions. Public law also encompasses issues involving public finance, land use planning and zoning, and tax credits and incentives. At Hartenstein Poor LLC, our firm has handled a number of public law matters, including representing citizen group in opposition to annexation, serving as outside counsel to major urban city on land use planning, and serving as counsel and public finance consultation in downtown revitalization plan. As a former state party director, attorney Scott B. Poor has extensive experience in political consulting and lobbying. The firm also acts as legal advisor in citizen initiative recall and ballot issue matters.

Filing for bankruptcy shelters you from having to pay back a portion of your debts, but that doesn’t mean that all of your debts are forgiven. Following a bankruptcy discharge, you will still be responsible for paying back student loans, alimony and child support, as well as overdue taxes. The first step in declaring bankruptcy is to meet with a business lawyer in Wichita to assess your eligibility.

As your business lawyer will advise, you won’t be eligible to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief if you earn more than the median income in your state. Instead, you will need to work with your business attorney to determine whether you can create a Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan. If you are filing business bankruptcy, then you must consult with a business law firm in order to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.