Practice / Divorce
Contested or uncontested. Resolution either way.
If you’re considering filing or your spouse has filed, the right next step is a one-hour consult, paid, in person or by video. We’ll review the high-level facts, walk through the procedural map, and tell you whether the matter looks like it can settle or whether contested motion practice is likely.
The consult
What we’ll cover in the first hour.
Residency, jurisdiction, posture
The state’s residency requirements. Which county. Whether community property or equitable distribution applies. The procedural map from filing to final order.
Support, custody, assets
Likely posture on spousal support given the income differential and length of marriage. Posture on custody if there are minor children. Asset division framework.
Timeline and cost range
Realistic timeline. Realistic cost range. Whether we think the matter will settle, mediate, or go contested. The honest answer, not the comfortable one.
Drafting, not posturing
Most of the file is written work.
A divorce is largely a stack of drafted documents — petitions, financial affidavits, parenting plans, settlement agreements, the final order. Of the 240 matters we’ve closed, 212 resolved at the drafting table. The 28 that went to verdict still needed everything in the file written tight enough to hold up at trial.
Cost
The honest range, in writing.
Most uncontested matters resolve in $4,000 to $8,000 of attorney time. Contested matters with custody and substantial assets run $15,000 to $35,000, occasionally higher. We build the retainer to the matter at the start and we tell you in writing if the matter is heading outside the original estimate before the bill arrives.
- Uncontested, no minor kids$4,000 — $6,000 typical
- Uncontested, minor kids$5,500 — $8,000 typical
- Contested, no substantial assets$9,000 — $18,000 typical
- Contested, custody + assets$15,000 — $35,000 typical
- Trial, custody + assets$35,000+ — we’ll forecast before the trial date is set
- Retainer triggerReplenished when balance drops below 30% of the original
What we don’t do
Three deliberate limits.
We don’t promise outcomes. We don’t accept matters where the goal is punishment of the other party rather than resolution. We don’t represent both spouses, even by written agreement. Caroline Hadley, Managing Partner
The first is the bar’s rule and our rule. The second is a quality-of-work choice — punitive matters consume attorney hours without moving the file. The third is structural: even where the bar permits it, latent conflict of interest is hard to manage without compromising one client’s posture.