Do you need a free consultation for an uncontested divorce in DuPage County? As a DuPage County divorce lawyer focusing on fast and affordable divorces, I can understand why you might want that. But a free, in-person consultation is not always what it’s cracked up to be.
Please read this FAQ about free divorce consultations.
Why a FAQ on free divorce consultation?
Starting a divorce can be confusing, even if it’s an uncontested divorce in DuPage County. When you want your divorce to be fast and affordable, you can be in a hurry to get started. And you might want to get all the free information and advice you can get. But that can be a waste of time. So I wrote this FAQ on free divorce consultation to help you get started efficiently.
What’s wrong with a free consultation?
Divorce lawyers aren’t divorce lawyers because it’s fun. They do it to make money. Yes, I try to help clients the best I can, and particularly enjoy helping people get fast and affordable uncontested divorces in DuPage County. But there’s other things I’d like to do for fun other than give free consultations. So therefore, one must realize that lawyers are most likely offering free, in-person consultations for another reason.
Are free consultations marketing tools?
I’ve noticed that free consultations are often a marketing tactic used by lawyers to get people in the door. Some lawyers might think that once people are in the office they will be impressed by fancy furniture, artwork, and secretaries.
But I don’t like to participate in those games.
Here’s why I think free divorce consultations often lack real value:
- Free consultations lack information: I’d bet if you went to 10 free consultations you wouldn’t get much actionable information. Most lawyers are not going to do enough work on your case during a free consultation to provided you anything very useful. I’m will to bet you don’t want to work for free, and lawyers don’t want to either. So simply for that reasons it seems that free consultations will lack substantial substantive information.
- Free consultations involve the wrong questions: Most of the time people ask the wrong questions during free consultations. Often the questions require only basic legal knowledge – but people are using the lawyers’ answers to those questions to choose as lawyer. To me, that’s not a great way to choose a lawyer since most lawyers have basic legal knowledge.
- Wrong information is given: Even if the right questions are asked – and they are usually not – lawyers often cannot give the right information during a free consultation. That’s because facts are often left out, so it is impossible to give the best information or offer the best advice.
What are the risks of a free consultation?
Free divorce consultations are not without risk. Some of the are below.
- Too many meetings: If your time is valuable, then too many meetings can be seriously unproductive. Consider how much time meetings can take – not only the meeting, but driving back and forth, and taking time off work. If one free divorce consultation is useful, then it seems people often think that more than one free consultation is even better. But than can just lead to more waste of time.
- Misguidance: Because of the poor questions asked and the incomplete information given by lawyers, people getting divorced can suffer from misguidance about what to do about their divorces.
- Incomplete information: I often find that people who are quite sure they need a free consultation have in fact had free consultations with numerous other lawyers. So if free consultations are so valuable, why do they need so many? I think it’s because some people feel that they can piece together something valuable if they speak to enough lawyers during free divorce consultations. But as I explained above, people tend to ask questions during free consultations that aren’t ultimately beneficial.
What use is a free consultation?
I guess free consultations can be useful, theoretically. But in my opinion, lawyers are most likely to offer very useful free consultations only when they cater to very big clients. For example, one lawyers I know who offers free consultations charges more than $600 per hour and has a bunch of mega-wealthy clients. He can afford to offer free consultations because the cases he gets by doing so are so valuable to him.
Are there options to a free consultation?
When I talk about free consultations, I’m really talking about the in-person free consultations. I think they’re often a waste of time. So if you think you need a divorce consultation, please consider these options:
- Consultation by phone: Many of my clients have had free in-person consultations with other lawyers, but hire me after a short phone consultation.
- A 1-hr paid consultation: There are certain times when people really do need an detailed conversation about their situation. For that, I do offer a paid 1-hr consultation for an affordable fee. My goal for such consultations is to give detailed information about client’s position and the options available.