For those with a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Virtually all divorce lawyers are litigators, and, as such, litigation is the standard operating procedure when their potential clients walk in the door. Once a divorce is filed, the case moves along in a standard process, like a product on a conveyer belt. First. the attorneys begin to produce a massive amount of paper work to prepare for temporary orders. Clients can easily spend 30 to 50 percent of your total attorney fees taking care of temporary matters.

In Weppler Law Office, we carefully assess the clients interests and goals, as well as the totality of their circumstances. We inform our clients all available options in the entire dispute resolution continuum. Where appropriate, we encourage our clients to consider non-adversarial and cost-effective approaches, including collaborative law, mediation, unbundled legal services, divorce coaching, and uncontested divorce. We think outside the box from the beginning even before filing for the divorce and look for creative and cost-cutting solutions. From the very start, we effectively guide the clients to identify undisputed issues and issues that can be easily agreed upon by utilizing a range of alternative dispute resolution processes. This approach reduces stress and animosity in client's life so that client can focus on resolving contentious issues more productively. In addition, it saves attorney's fees that would have been unnecessarily incurred for obtaining temporary orders and discovery process.

Sometimes, all client needs a kitchen table to sit around and work things out with the other side. If you and your spouse agree on all issues, your divorce is uncontested. Your spouse can sign the “joinder” on the petition for dissolution and, after a 90-day waiting period, your divorce may be finalized. We can prepare all the documents to initiate and finalize the uncontested divorce process.

Depending on the type of issues that need to be resolved, you have an option to hire a lawyer to "coach" you through the process. This could still save you a lot of legal fees while giving you more sense of control of the whole process. You begin by meeting with us to get educated about the issues, to develop a settlement strategy and to discuss reasonable settlement options. Then you work with your spouse to reach an agreement on the issues. You can call us at any time with questions that may come up in your negotiations. This will help you to further refine and adjust your settlement options. Sometimes, we can step in and negotiate on your behalf with your spouse. Once you have reached an agreement, we will draft the final papers and put everything in proper legalese.

Attorneys typically handle the case from the beginning to the end of the case. However, some clients do not need the complete package of legal services. Some cannot afford to hire an attorney to take over the entire process. Depending on client's needs and circumstances, we offer unbundled legal services on a flat fee basis. "Unbundled legal services" refers to the breaking up of legal representation into separate and distinct tasks. In Weppler Law Office, we provide the following unbundled family law services:

• Drafting pleadings, briefs, declarations, orders, or other court documents
• Document review
• Conducting legal research
• Negotiating
• Advising on court procedures and courtroom behavior
• Coaching on strategy or role playing
• Preparing exhibits
• Organizing discovery materials
• Pre-mediation assistance
• Post-mediation consultation
• Providing legal guidance or opinions
• Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements

Mediation is an affordable and efficient process for families experiencing separation or divorce to develop or modify parenting plans, negotiate property divisions, and address other disagreements. Our attorney-mediator brings structure for the parties to engage in productive discussions and problem solve. We can help the parties draft written agreements reached in mediation.

Collaborative divorce is the best option if you wish to divorce out of court but the parties have some serious disagreements or need more professional assistance.

Collaborative divorce process is the ultimate full service representation option in the non adversarial divorce continuum. It involves not only attorneys on the both sides in the entire divorce process, but also may include the help of other neutral professionals (a divorce coach or financial expert). It is usually more expensive than other options listed above, but tends to produce more client satisfaction over the process and outcome. Still, the cost of collaborative divorce tends to be substantially lower than the cost of divorce litigation. For more information on collaborative law, please visit our Collaborative Divorce page, below.