Yes! Get a lawyer!

The purpose of this blog is to answer some general questions I get asked about Florida family law. In the year I've been posting, the blog has become quite popular. I'm now hearing me get quoted to me. You read that right, people are quoting me to me. Some people don't even realize they're quoting me to me. They call or come in and say, "I read on the internet that..." and I realize that they were reading my blog. Some people even print out quotes by me and bring them in to show me. It's fun to say, "Yeah, that was me who said that." Suddenly I realize the importance of what gets said here.

But what I say most of all -- in this blog and elsewhere -- is "Get a lawyer!" I say this most of all because I'm asked it most of all. More often than all other questions I'm asked put together, someone will say, "My case is X, should I get a lawyer?"

This answer is always "yes, you should get a lawyer."

I don't say "yes" just because I'm a lawyer. I say it because another frequent question I get asked is "I didn't have a lawyer, my case get really screwed up, now I'm in trouble, can you fix what went wrong?"

The answer to "Can you fix it?" is usually "maybe" and sometimes "no." It's rarely "yes."

See where I'm going here?

Sometimes I'm amazed they even let people in the courtroom without lawyers. After all, they don't let people in the operating room without doctors. Trust me, having a lawyer for your divorce is as important as having a doctor for your surgery. In both cases, the rest of your life can very pleasant if things go right and very awful if things go wrong.

I know lawyers are expensive. I know good lawyers are really expensive. But almost nothing is more expensive than having your life screwed up by a bad divorce. I wish I could say, "It's all right, save your money, go it alone." But that would be the equivalent of saying, "Sure, take out your own tonsils. It will hurt a lot, but you'll save money." Please, please, please, get a lawyer.