how exactly do I find the best divorce lawyer?

[mikey832]

Jurisdiction

Mississippi

Don't have any friends/relatives that went through with a divorce here to ask.

Seems like there are a ton of fake reviews online (one lawyer with over 1,000+ reviews all 5 stars on google) when most other lawyers have single digit reviews....

Of course every one claims to be the best etc.

Don't care about the fees.
But don't want to someone to take me for a ride and bill me for hours for telling my life story if he's just going to settle out of court. But also don't want someone who isn't willingly to fight. Had a family member in another state go through a divorce and said his attorney was more of an accountant...just wanted to see all his money and try to divide it up without trying to go to court or caring. By caring I don't mean holding your hand; like he'd say his wife did X, Y or Z and the lawyer would just say "courts won't care....have you got your finances prepared yet? work on that"

No kids, honestly just my finances in question. I have a high earning job she earns very very little, although she might have a savings of $300k in bank. She didn't help me get my job, I had it well before her, so I'm definitely not giving her half .
As far as how she has $300k, she doesn't spend a dime. So the whole judge ruling a divorce so that lifestyles don't change might help me that she's extremely frugal

 

[welkin]

Mississippi an equitable distribution state. You have no kids. Do you have property that would need to be divided? If not, seems like a pretty simple divorce.

You don't need a high priced brain surgeon to remove a mole. Most of the settlement will be a matter of law or negotiation..

Call some small to medium sized law firms that specialize in divorce in your area and ask about a flat fee to handle it instead of an hourly rate.

 

[zddoodah]

Seek recommendations from friends/acquaintances. Schedule consultations with a few attorneys to get a feel for what they're like. Hire the one with whom you feel most comfortable.

 

[mikey832]

Mississippi an equitable distribution state. You have no kids. Do you have property that would need to be divided? If not, seems like a pretty simple divorce.

You don't need a high priced brain surgeon to remove a mole. Most of the settlement will be a matter of law or negotiation..

Call some small to medium sized law firms that specialize in divorce in your area and ask about a flat fee to handle it instead of an hourly rate.

both of our names are on the house but I paid 100% of the house (and everything else for that matter). she moved to another room years ago, we don't really talk. didn't think she'd file for a divorce but as soon as she found out i'm retiring she wanted to attack the nest egg (also her kids are grown and out of our house, she was using me to raise her kids).


she's been messaging some of my friends (called verizon pretending to be me and got copy of my call logs) and offering my friends "everything she'll get after the divorce" for dirt on me....

so are big law firms (with more attorneys) necessary better?

Seek recommendations from friends/acquaintances. Schedule consultations with a few attorneys to get a feel for what they're like. Hire the one with whom you feel most comfortable.

As said in the original post, I don't know anyone here that has gone through a divorce.

Still no insights as to how to necessary find a good lawyer. I'm not sure if there is a database or what.

I know I don't need brain surgeon but I want her removed from the house. She did try to attack me with a screw driver a few months ago and the cops just said we can't remove her since she technically lives here. And more important she doesn't do anything (doesn't pay for any bills and doesn't clean up after self). I use to do all the cleaning till my old age and back problems prevents me to so I've been hiring a cleaner. Definitely don't want to waste my retirement money on cleaners. And I buy groceries for myself and she just eats it...can't make multiple grocery store runs with covid and my age/health.

Met with two attorneys and neither cared. Both just wanted to babble about their retainer.

 

[welkin]

so are big law firms (with more attorneys) necessary better?

Not in my experiences. They just usually charge more and since they have so many cases at once no one case takes any priority to get through. And I doubt you could find a large firm that would do a divorce on a flat fee.

https://lawyers.findlaw.com/lawyer/practicestate/divorce/Mississippi