A new client that hired me this week told me  about his divorce which took years.  During the divorce, his wife filed domestic violence charges against him.  His divorce lawyer either did not have the experience to deal with the criminal charges or didn’t want to.  From what he told me, it seems like both.  This is a very common problem that I see all of the time.

Some lawyers are afraid to admit that they are over their head.  If I don’t know how to do something, I’d rather not not put my client at risk.  Instead, I will either work with another lawyer that has the experience with the law at issue or I will just refer that part of the case out for that lawyer to handle.  I also think some lawyers want to get every dollar that is coming out of the client’s pocket.  I don’t do that.

At my firm, we handle family law and criminal law and we handle both very well.  Domestic violence, in my opinion, is a combination of criminal law and family law and only a lawyer that is knowledgeable in both should handle these cases.  If you find yourself in a domestic violence situation on either side, don’t get caught with an attorney that can only handle half the case.  Otherwise, you may be regretting the consequences for years to come.