Choosing the right divorce attorney is not easy. Making it even harder is the fact that the attorney that is a good fit for one person is not necessarily a good fit for the next person. Every client has different needs and points of view. Every attorney has strengths and weaknesses, and their own particular way of looking at the issues and the legal process.
First off, it really is a good idea to interview several different attorneys. You won’t begin to get a feel for what different attorneys bring to the table until you have met with several.
Second, pay attention to how well what you are looking for, and how the attorney operates, mesh. For instance, are you looking to take a very aggressive approach, or do you want someone who can calm things down? Do you need an attorney who is good at analyzing a complex financial picture, or are you more concerned with having an attorney who really understands parenting issues? If you have a very controlling spouse, you might need an attorney with a focus on domestic violence issues, but if you and your spouse are basically cooperative, you may want an attorney skilled in using alternative dispute resolution to keep the case from getting adversarial.
You should also think about whether you and the attorney seem to look at things the same way, whether are you in sync. If the two of you are on the same page, then you should be able to work well together. On the other hand, if the client and attorney have very different outlooks, it could be a very frustrating experience for both. For instance, if the attorney is focused on achieving the best financial outcome for the client, while the client is more concerned with preserving a co-parenting relationship with the other parent, the client and attorney could actually find themselves working at cross purposes to each other.