You've seen the Rhode Islnd Divorce advertisements on the internet and in the newspaper for divorce lawyers. Here's what they look like:
"Rhode Island Divorce $299"
Now I'd like you to think about the divorce process for a moment. To file a divorce the lawyer has to have a detailed interview or consultation with you. That should take a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes even in the easiest divorce. Then the Rhode Island divorce lawyer has to draw up all the documents that are necessary for filing a divorce including a check from his or her expense account. The check is for the mandatory $100 filing fee that goes to the State of Rhode Island. That takes at least 1 hour even with a top notch secretary doing the typing.
After this the lawyer has to go to court and file your divorce. Yet let's assume the lawyer mails it in with a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return of the service copies to save money. This saves money but it takes more time.
When your divorce lawyer gets the papers back from the court he or she must call the constable and arrange for the service of the papers on your spouse. The lawyer has to make sure he or she has copies for the filoe and copies for the client. Let's say all those things take an hour to do and that the lawyer absorbs all the costs, such as paper, toner, paperclips, phone calls, secretary wages, if any etc..
Your spouse is then served. Your Rhode Island divorce lawyer then has to process the invoice, pay it and send the Return of Service into the court. That is easily another twenty (20) minutes.
Assuming your spouse doesn't show up at the Nominal Divorce hearing that is held approximately six (6) to eight (8) weeks from the date your lawyer files the complaint for divorce, the lawyer must go to court, wait until the case is called, attend the hearing, and let's assume pay for parking and minimal travel to court, and travel back to his or her office.
Within the next 30 days your Rhode Island divorce lawyer will prepare what is known as a Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment (DPE) for the Court to sign. Typically this involves the divorce lawyer returning to court, getting the clerk or an assistant clerk to check the DPE (Temporary Order) for accuracy. Once the accuracy is confirmed, the divorce lawyer will go to the judge who rendered the divorce decision or the duty Judge to have the document approved. The lawyer then returns to the family court clerk's office to have the DPE entered and obtain certified copies of that document.
After your Rhode Island divorce lawyer obtains the certified copies of the DPE, he or she will return to his or her office and send copies to the opposing party and the client. Even a lawyer who has an office close to the courthouse can easily spend one and one-half hours at a minimum getting these things accomplished.
Your lawyer will then docket the divorce in his or her calendar for 92 days. The 92nd day is the first day on which a Judge may enter the final judgment of divorce. The lawyer must prepare the Final Judgment of Divorce and follow the same steps of having the document checked by the clerk's office, approved by the judge and then entered by the clerk's office in order to obtain certified copies of the Final Judgment of Divorce to be sent to the client and opposing counsel. All the while the lawyer's fee is absorbing the costs of parking, office overhead, travel, bank fees, electricity, copies, etc.....
So what's my point, right?
Just this, that other divorce lawyers may advertise a ridiculous amount for a divorce but what do you really get? Just take a look at the work involved here. This isn't child's play and while it may sound simple, it still requires the lawyer's time and expertise to get you through the end of the process. In the end, if any good lawyer can finish a Rhode Island divorce properly without expending 15 hours then in my opinion he or she missed something or didn't do his or her job.
Even lawyers who have harnessed technology and cut their expenses down to the bare minimum will find it hard to do a divorce that is either agreed to or is a defaulted divorce in less than 12 hours.
So let's take 12 hours and divide it into $299. That's $25 per hour for the attorney's time. Yet out of that has to come the lawyer's expenses, parking fees, copies, paper, secretary, internet, legal research tools, phone, fax, toner or printer ink, office rent, office utilities such as electricity, heat, air conditioning and anything else I haven't taken into account.
So what does this mean? It means that if you go to a lawyer who offers a divorce for $299 then you'd better be on your toes because there has to be a catch somewhere. My own personal goal has been to accomplish what I call a "friendly divorce" in 10 hours and I haven't reached that goal yet despite harnessing technology to it's fullest potential.
Remember, if a lawyer advertises a divorce for $299 then he or she should be prepared to back it up by taking you through the whole divorce process. The divorce is the end result of the process, namely the Final Judgment of Divorce, it is not merely the filing of the initial papers.
Just a small piece of advice, this is what other RI Divorce Lawyerss might do to get you on the hook and try to real you in. Remember, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!
Your Rhode Island Divorce Lawyer,
Christopher A. Pearsall, Attorney-at-Law
Law Office of Christopher A. Pearsall
70 Dogwood Drive
West Warwick, RI 02893
Phone: (401) 632-6976
Rhode Island's Most Affordable Divorce Lawyer - Caring About People
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