Divorce Lawyer Handling Divorce Cases on a Statewide Basis
If you were suffering from a cardiac problem and needed a cardiologist to help with an ongoing process, would you choose the one closest to your house simply because it’s easy to get to his or her office, or the one who comes highly recommended and is considered one of the best in the state but whose office might be in another part of the state? Would your answer be different if the doctor could handle almost all things associated with your care, via phone, fax, email and the internet? The answer for most people is that they would choose the best care possible – regardless of the location of the professional office.
Lawyers in Colorado can handle divorce cases in any county in the State of Colorado. For example, a Boulder County lawyer can handle cases in Eagle County (Vail area), Summit County (Breckenridge area), Douglas County (Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch and Parker area), Garfield County (Glenwood Springs area), Pitkin County (Aspen area), El Paso County (Colorado Springs area), Larimer County (Fort Collins area) and anywhere else on the eastern plains the front range, the mountains, or the western slope. Travel is usually not a problem, because the vast majority of matters in a divorce case are handled by phone contact with the court, electronic filing (e-filing), fax, email and phone contact with the lawyer for the other spouse.
In a Colorado divorce, legal separation, child custody, child support or maintenance matter, there are usually only one or two occasions where a court appearance might be necessary: (1) an initial status conference, and (2) a temporary or permanent orders hearing (trial). Most courts allow a lawyer who does not have an office in the county where the case is pending to appear by telephone for almost all court conferences, mediation sessions, and sometimes for hearings when evidence is not presented.
Filing the divorce petition and any subsequent motions, financial disclosures, notices, etc. is easily done with a few clicks on the computer, via the Colorado court system electronic filing system through Lexis/Nexis. There’s no need to hand deliver documents to the court clerk. Documents that need to be sent to a spouse or his or her lawyer are typically sent via U.S. mail or via electronic delivery through fax or email. Subpoenas and summonses can be generated in the lawyer’s office, and then faxed or emailed to a local process server who can serve the summons or the subpoena in the location where the witness or party needs to be served. Client meetings can be conducted by telephone or video conference (for example, by using Skype, Facebook video chat, Windows Live Messenger, etc.), so there’s a personal connection between the client and the lawyer. Other lawyer and client communications can be handled through faxing and emails.
Having a lawyer who does not regularly practice in the local area where the divorce case is pending can be a benefit. An out of town lawyer is typically not entrenched in local politics and local business, and is not concerned about how those relationships may be impacted by an argument, claim or defense in a divorce related proceeding. Furthermore, appearing by telephone for events such as an initial status conference and mediation saves the client money because there’s no time involved going to and from court or mediation office. When the lawyer does need to appear in the local courthouse or in the county where the case is pending, the money saved by not having to appear for other parts of the case usually outweighs any cost incurred for having a local appearance.
Don’t be afraid to find a divorce lawyer who doesn’t have an office in your local area. Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein, P.C. handles a wide variety of matters, including real estate, employment law, family law, commercial litigation, construction litigation, wills, trusts and estates, guardianship and conservatorship, and business formation and litigation. Hiring a lawyer in a law firm that has attorneys who practice in other areas can be very helpful when a divorce, child custody, child support, maintenance, or visitation (parenting time) case involves issues that touch on those other areas of law.
