The word out there is, “The Barberi Law family legal team gets great results, but they are more expensive than other divorce attorneys.” Our response, “Yes, that first part is true, we do get great results!” Perhaps the second statement is true too, the more expensive part, especially if individuals are telephoning different law firms to get “quotes” for starting a divorce or responding to a spouse’s complaint for divorce. Only with that said, clients who want to “shop for a family law attorney” when deciding who to help them through one of the most difficult times of their lives need to compare apples to apples when evaluating what they are getting. At Barberi Law we quote a minimum engagement fee before agreeing to represent someone in a divorce case. Sadly, we can never give a firm quote as to how much a divorce will cost since the answer to that question lies in the willingness of the two spouses to reach agreements on important issues and the advice the other spouse receives from his/her attorney. When we give potential clients a quote for an engagement fee, that quote typically covers the minimum anticipated expenses for 7-9 months of legal work dealing with a divorce with minor children; or 3-4 months of legal work for a divorce without minor children.
Getting back to comparing apples with apples, at Barberi Law I am not the only divorce attorney. I am only one member of the Barberi Law family law team. At Barberi Law we have four attorneys and 3 paralegals who make up the professional team that represents each of our divorce clients on every case that we agree to accept. We don’t agree to represent every potential client who contacts us! Every three weeks this family law legal team meets to collaborate and strategize on every pending divorce case at Barberi Law. During these meetings we make decisions on what actions need to be taken to best protect our clients, both financially and with their relationship with any children that are directly affected by the parties’ divorce. It also needs to be kept in mind that a divorce effects not only minor children but adult children and grandparents as well. At Barberi Law we look out for all affected parties.
The family law legal team approach is unique to Barberi Law. To our knowledge, our approach is not duplicated anywhere else in Central or Northern Michigan by any other law firm.
By employing this team approach every team member is constantly being kept up to date on the status of every pending divorce case at Barberi Law. Often when you are meeting with the Barberi Family Law team you meet with 2-3 individuals at the same time even though you are only being “charged” for one of the professionals. Accordingly, every time a client phones our office with a problem or a crisis, there is always an attorney and/or paralegal available to immediately respond to the caller, and that responding individual is “up to date” on the client’s case! There is never a response of “Sorry” your attorney is in court on another case or out of the office on vacation, etc.
Bottomline, if it’s a professional team that you want on your side—that is always working together to help you through a very difficult emotional time in your life—then the time-tested phrase may apply— “You get what you pay for!”.
If you want to shop for the least expensive divorce lawyer you can hire to start representing you in your divorce, then by all means go elsewhere. However, if you want to succeed at obtaining what is best for you and for your family, then the family law legal team at Barberi Law may be your best and wisest choice. By the way, check out our firm’s Google Reviews.