What qualities do you look for when hiring a divorce lawyer? Getting a divorce is a very challenging, trying time, but real life is very different from the Hollywood films that portray vicious court battles between feuding parties. 

Today’s leading divorce litigation lawyers try to achieve the best possible outcome for their clients by preventing lengthy, acrimonious disputes. Please read on to learn why a holistic, collaborative approach is the popular way forward for Ontario’s leading divorce litigation lawyers.

Healthy Co-parenting Foundation

People get divorced for many reasons, and there are many scenarios where people are right to split up. Hopefully, the divorcing couple still have some respect, if not love, for the other, and they can remain in each other’s lives on good enough terms to co-parent successfully. This may not always be easy.

Litigators with a holistic, collaborative approach, like the divorce lawyers at Tailor Law, set a positive, professional tone at the start of the divorce proceedings with the aim of building bridges instead of burning them. 

It’s natural for people to feel a range of emotions at the start of a divorce, like anger, relief, resentment, sadness, or depression. Even if a person isn’t particularly indignant with their ex, they may not be ready to work closely together on something so important. Such a dynamic makes co-parenting difficult and can cause significant developmental problems for the children of divorced parents.

With this in mind, leading litigators take a collaborative approach to defuse tensions as much as possible. They’ll be careful to use a polite, professional tone while abstaining from spite to instead seek what’s best for everybody, and that’s what is best for the children. 

Reducing tensions, negotiating in good faith, working to achieve mutually acceptable positions — that’s what helps establish a healthy foundation for co-parenting. Every divorcing couple is different, and even if their problems were substantial enough to drive them apart, hopefully, they retain some kernel of positivity to build on during their years as co-parents.  

Concessions Help Build Trust

How can a divorcing couple trust one another during the legal proceedings? It’s a real challenge since the emotions and the stakes are at an all-time high. One innovative way collaborative lawyers often take includes granting what the other parent wants when it makes sense.

For example, one parent may have a special gift or talent that their children really love. In combative divorces, one side may use this in spite as a wedge to deprive their ex of this important connection to their child. Even though it will hurt the child too, they want to inflict maximum pain on their ex-spouse.

Collaborative lawyers advise going by the opposite route. Instead, they recommend doing what’s best for kids. This has the obvious benefit of helping the children get a stable footing after the divorce, but it also helps build trust and prevents the temperature from rising too much during the divorce proceedings.

When one parent makes a gesture of sacrifice or goodwill to help with their communal goal moving forward, it helps reaffirm their commitment to being a loving and responsible co-parent. This invaluable, well-timed reassurance helps establish a foundation of trust, so the rest of the proceedings should go smoother.

Of course, even the most determined collaborative lawyer can’t control how the lawyer on the other side will respond. That’s why holistic lawyers focusing on collaboration only use it as a first option and can pivot to toughness when required.

Financial Models

Sometimes, innovation has less to do with a divorce lawyer’s approach or legal tactics and is more about how they incorporate modern technology to help ease payments for clients. Even a relatively quick and painless divorce can be expensive, and they happen at a difficult, stressful time in people’s lives.

Plus, sometimes the funds you need aren’t available until after the legal proceedings, which can prevent people from getting the legal representation they need or handling other financial obligations. People in a divorce may get the title deeds to the home in which they currently live, but they don’t own it during the divorce and can’t leverage it to pay any legal bills.

That’s why today’s leading firms offer alternate payment plans and advances on a client’s eventual legal proceedings entitlement. Innovation means finding new ways to make legal representation more accessible.

Offering a broader, holistic legal approach is one way to use innovation in legal services. However, serving a client’s larger needs can also mean helping them finance the representation itself.

Tech Connections

Contemporary law firms sometimes use digital technology in innovative ways to connect with clients and prospective clients. They may have digital forms on their website for people to fill out to book a free case evaluation and consultation.

We are all pretty familiar now with Zoom meetings and connecting with people face-to-face remotely. Many law firms leverage technology in such ways to get in touch. Of course, people are always free to call their offices! Smartphones may be a relatively new technology, but dialling somebody’s number and calling them is a tried and true method.

Websites Help

Finally, the leading divorce litigation lawyers have websites that detail their specific services and outline their approach. Some aspects of family law are less involved than others, and while services catering to them may seem similar, there are important distinctions.

There are divorce lawyers who handle separation agreements and litigate the divorce process itself. Sometimes, a person may need a lawyer to handle issues limited to things like spousal support or child custody disputes from a divorce that has already been finalized. 

Everybody needs compassionate and comprehensive legal representation, but it’s essential to find a legal team that specializes in the specific area you need help.

Relationships between separating couples have always been a major struggle, but the world of technology around it is changing constantly. Look for a divorce litigation lawyer who embraces new ways of representing clients and digital technology, and you should get the type of legal assistance you need.

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