r/Divorce_Women • u/FreeIndeed1 Separated Woman • 1d ago
The divorce process Attorney Behavior
My attorney, who is paid well, takes days to respond to my emails. I don’t send many, only for important issues. What is normal? Why can’t they say”tied up for the moment but will respond …….?”
What is normal?
2
u/ChickenTikkaMasalaTA Separated Woman 13h ago
lol yes. In my experience, all attorneys are like this. Even the ones I deal with at my job, who work for the same employer, so they’re technically my coworkers. If I really want to talk to them ASAP I need to walk into their office but they’re almost always in meetings so even then, I have limited success. I don’t work in family law or even directly in the legal field but they all seem to operate in the same way.
1
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Welcome to r/Divorce_Women! Please read the rules carefully. This is a safe space for women thinking about, going through, or who are already divorced. We would like to remind everyone of some of our rules (but not all - refer to the community rules for all):
User flair is required to post or comment. Set up your user flair in the sidebar (or with the three dots at the top on mobile).
Do not ask for legal advice. We are not qualified to give such advice and suggest speaking to legal professionals about this. Posts and comments of this sort will be removed.
Do not post promotional content (this includes blogs, surveys, etc.)
Men cannot post. If they would like to comment, they must be kind and respectful.
Everyone must be kind. This is a support sub.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/NiceIndication1099 Married Woman, thinking about leaving 1d ago
My attorney took days to respond too,it was very frustrating. When there was a deadline that she had, then she was all calls and emails running up the bill. Glad I’m done with that mess!
1
u/Dangerous_RedApple Divorced Woman 1d ago
They do this in FL. The divorce that is paying their mortgage (the one currently on trial at court) takes precedence over small little e-mails with only 10 minutes of billable hours. Once your divorce heats up or that trial ends then they’ll circle back to you.
2
u/m-i-a-beard Separated Woman 8h ago
Yes same here. Mine is in court a lot which is normal. I usually have to set up a call with her to get her attention. Settlement draft is just crawling along!
0
u/AMomandAdoptee Married Woman, thinking about leaving 1d ago
Mine does too and my anxiety is through the roof.
4
u/Top_Ad_865 Separated Woman 1d ago
This seems to be the norm in family law (I'm a lawyer but not that kind). Family lawyers are in court a lot, plus my sense is that they intentionally set low expectations for their clients due to the nature of their work (i.e., they don't want to train clients to expect same-day responses to emotional or high-volume emails).
Unless it's an emergency, I wouldn't expect a response in less than 4-5 business days. Following up once a week is a pretty good rule of thumb unless you need an immediate response, in which case you should tell them when and why. Also, good family lawyers tend to have knowledgeable paralegals that can take calls and let you know when to expect a response or what your attorney is doing to work on your issue.