Thursday, August 29, 2013

Why Is My Divorce Taking So Long?

Kim Kardashian made my job so much easier.  If the queen of reality television couldn't hasten along her divorce with a throng of Hollywood lawyers and a millionaire hip hop baby daddy, who could?   A couple together for only eleven weeks were in litigation longer than they shared a bed.

Clients exhausted from the fight often sigh in frustration. Can't you make her settle?  Make him come to the table!

If I could, we'd have to install a deli number system in the lobby

I can ring the dinner bell but I can't make 'em clean their plates.  Cases don't settle quickly for a host of varied reasons. A distracted, busy or greedy opponent, a spouse who can't let go, a judge whose docket is backed up, or insoluble problems like too much debt and not enough assets.

Sometimes your partner just needs to catch up. Rarely does a couple arrive at the divorce off ramp at the same time. We all travel at different emotional speeds.

Be prompt in providing financial information, stay in touch and if things seem unbearably snarled, set up a face to face meeting with counsel to help move your file to the top of the pile.

Ask about setting up a four way meeting with the other side if the time is ripe.  Find out if it's time to consider mediation?

Keep your attorney informed but don't oversaturate.  Pay your bill on time.  Given limited hours each day, the paid up client's likely to get quicker attention.

Eventually all cases resolve by settlement or trial.  Like those times when it seems the traffic will never clear, remember that no one spends the night on the freeway--we all get home in due course.