Have you ever stood at a store counter, waiting for help or to make a purchase, while the clerk stands there a few feet away with her back to you, doing something else? She knows you’re there. You KNOW she knows you’re there. You’re in a hurry. You need something. You’re a paying customer and the reason she has a job. Yet she doesn’t even acknowledge you, not even murmuring a “be right with you” as she finishes typing a text or rearranging a display. It’s infuriating, right?
It’s even more infuriating when the person you’re trying to get help from is your retained attorney, and you’re in the middle of a divorce, likely the most stressful event of your lifetime. This is the person who’s supposed to help you! You’ve paid him a big retainer! Why can’t you get a simple phone call?
There are a lot of reasons your lawyer might not be calling you back —Let’s talk about some of them, along with ways you can get what you actually need from your attorney.
Is My Divorce Attorney Avoiding Me?
When you call your attorney and don’t get a call back, it’s easy to take it personally, but most of the time, it’s not. Good attorneys are busy–meeting with clients, preparing for motions, mediations, and trials, and of course appearing in court. It can be difficult to even catch your attorney in his or her office, let alone with a few minutes to talk.
Remember that attorneys bill for their time. If your attorney bills you for phone calls, as most do, you could easily be getting a large bill for a phone call that you didn’t really need. Alternately, the attorney may not bill you, but has lost time — his or her most valuable asset. Your attorney should update you when there is information that needs to be conveyed and not waste your valuable funds on an unnecessary call. In any event, if you feel your attorney is not communicating with you frequently enough or there is some other issue with respect to communication with your attorney, you need to make sure you inform your attorney of the issue so that it can be resolved or you can decide to cease the relationship and find another attorney.
Should I Change Attorneys?
If your attorney truly won’t respond to you, changing attorneys is an option, even well into your divorce. Your attorney does have an ethical obligation to keep you informed about your case. While you can change attorneys at any time in your case, you want to make sure you’re not jumping out of the frying pan into the fire in terms of attorney communication. Before you choose to switch attorneys, consider whether there’s anything that can be done to fix the problem with your current attorney, especially if you are otherwise happy.
To learn more about what you should expect regarding communication with your divorce attorney, we invite you to contact Shaffer Family Law online or call (480)-386-5362 today to schedule a consultation. And keep your eyes on our blog — in our next post, we’ll share tips for getting the communication you need out of your attorney’s office.