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The Best Divorce Lawyers:  Making the Right Choice

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Hiring one of the best divorce lawyers is the most important thing you need to do for your family law matter.

Where do you start?

First of all, lawyers’ websites could often be the worst place to start. They will not help you much if you are looking for the best of the best.

Do you ever notice that most divorce lawyers’ websites look the same? Do they have generic photos of lawyers standing in suits, photos of law libraries, photos of the pillars of parliament, or photos of the scales of justice? Seriously, how can a person even begin to tell these lawyers apart from each other?!

Quick Links

1. Meet the Pathway Legal lawyers

2. The best divorce lawyers: what to look for

3. Questions to ask a divorce lawyer

4. The Pathway Legal Initial consultation

5. Is a friendly divorce possible?

6. Collaborative Law Training

Video: hiring the right lawyer for your divorce

Having trouble finding the best divorce lawyers?

If you are looking online for a family law lawyer in British Columbia, you will see that not only do most law firm’s look the same, but they also say the same things as each other. And if you start reading the law firm’s “about” page, you are no further ahead.

How most legal firms describe themselves. Same old, same old...

A group of very 6 serious-looking and stern divorce lawyers standing together in a legal office.
  • We have a proven track record of success.
  • Put your trust in us.
  • Get the advocacy you deserve. 
  • For your cost-effective divorce
  • We fight passionately to protect your rights. 
  • Our experienced divorce lawyers will fight for your rights and protect your interests every step of the way. 
  • Our compassionate and skilled team is here to provide you with the legal guidance you need. 
  • We dedicate ourselves to tirelessly negotiating a fair settlement on your behalf. 
  • We are compassionate and we empower you to make informed decisions about your future.
  • Our experienced team of divorce lawyers provides you with personal legal representation.
  • Our knowledgeable divorce lawyers are committed to finding amicable solutions for families with a focus on minimizing conflict. 

You get the idea. 

So how do you tell the difference?

Lawyers advertise to their potential clients by stating they will be your advocates. They say they are experienced and that they will protect your interests.

They also say they are skilled. But when choosing lawyers for your case, it is not so easy to tell them apart, is it?

Being the best divorce lawyers takes a lot more than being nice, having experience, and knowing the law

What are the real qualities and skills of the best divorce lawyers?

Introducing the Pathway Legal Difference...

The bottom line is that the best divorce lawyers put their money where their mouth is.

What do I mean by that? As an example, here's how our Pathway Legal divorce lawyers care for the clients they work with...

It is one thing for a lawyer to say they are great at what they do, and that they are committed to resolving your matter, but a whole other thing to say that they have substantially invested their time and resources in additional dispute resolution training.

Lawyers are busy people. Taking additional dispute resolution training demonstrates a high level of commitment and says a lot about how much your potential lawyer is going to put into getting your matter resolved. For real!

When lawyers take additional dispute resolution training, they qualify to become collaborative divorce lawyers, mediators, or arbitrators. This additional training makes them tend to be way better at their jobs. They tend to be very good negotiators on your behalf, you have a higher likelihood of avoiding court, and reaching a fair settlement. Avoiding the courtroom happens more often than not. 

Val HemmingerVal Hemminger
Owner/Lawyer | Victoria
Mark GingerichMark Gingerich
Lawyer | The Kootenays
Ashley SanghaAshley Sangha
Lawyer | Victoria
Sarah AbbottSarah Abbott
Lawyer
Harpreet CheemaHarpreet Cheema
Lawyer
Enoor OsubeleEnoor Osubele
Lawyer
Isabella MiskiewiczIsabella Miskiewicz
Legal Assistant
Diana IllyDiana Illy
Senior Legal Assistant
Valavan VeeramaniValavan Veeramani
Operations Manager
Natasha AndrewNatasha Andrew
Receptionist

The best family law lawyers - like the Pathway lawyers - must have the additional training and skills necessary to get your matter over the finish line, whether as an amicable divorce lawyer or one skilled in litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Best divorce lawyer for women v.  for men

three divorce lawyers conversing in nature

People often ask us if we have more male clients or more female clients.

The short answer is that whether someone is the best divorce lawyer for women or for men really holds little weight. The qualities are similar, regardless of the gender of the client. At the same time, sometimes you might want to get specific about the kind of lawyer you hire for the specific challenges your family law case will have.

The team at Pathway legal is infinitely qualified to meet your specific legal needs.

Important Related Pages

Collaborative Family Law Professionals in British ColumbiaCollaborative Family Law
Divorcing Without Court in Victoria and British ColumbiaChoosing A Lawyer
Divorcing With Children in Victoria and British ColumbiaDivorce & Children
Divorcing With Children in Victoria and British ColumbiaYour Legal Team

The best divorce lawyers – what to look for if you are seeking a lawyer in British Columbia

  1. Look at their online reviews.
    Do they have previous clients that are happy with their work? Did those clients feel heard? What do those clients say about their fee structure? Did previous clients say their fees were transparent and fair? Make sure they have had previous clients who rave about the work they will do for your case.  
  2. Are they upfront and transparent about the fees that you will be investing?
    For a lot of folks, going with the cheapest lawyer is not always the best answer, but investing in the right kind of lawyer that will be clear about their billing practices and their system for delivering accounts is the way to go. That way, there are no nasty surprises.
  3. How do you feel when you meet them?
    Believe it or not, the these lawyers know how to connect with their clients. Because your relationship with your divorce lawyer is often a close one, where you will be working intimately with one another, you want to make sure you feel like you will enjoy working with them. Trust your gut.

Questions to ask a divorce lawyer

  1. Are you qualified to be a mediator or work in collaborative law?
    They should have a ton of dispute resolution training over and above what they learned in law school. Sometimes it is called alternative dispute resolution, or ADR. The fact is that there is nothing “alternative” about family law lawyers taking dispute resolution training. It is a fundamental requirement to be an alternative dispute resolution lawyer to help you and your family law case.
  2. Are they experienced in matters specific to family law?
    Be wary, though. Almost all websites will say the lawyer is experienced, but the question is, are they experienced in family law and are they experienced in family law specific to your needs? If you are a Dad, for example, you might want to find a lawyer that knows divorce lawyers fathers rights. If you are a stay at home Mom, you might want to know about housewife divorce rights, for example. 
  3. Will they go to court if necessary?
    You have probably figured out by now that, at Pathway Legal, here in British Columbia, we say that divorce lawyers in British Columbia should always avoid court if they can. However, at the risk of sounding like we are contradicting ourselves, we also know that the best lawyers will go to court when necessary. Make sure your family law lawyer uses court as a last resort.
  4. How will they communicate with you?
    For example, will they automatically keep you apprised of all the matters associated with your case? If they receive a proposal from your ex-spouse, will it be sent to you right away so you will have time to read and consider it prior to your next scheduled meeting? Or will they wait until your next scheduled meeting? These are the kinds of things you want to know. 
  5. Do they have a plan?
    At Pathway Legal, when clients are consulting us, regardless of where in British Columbia, they are wanting to hire one of the best divorce lawyers for their family matter, we always start by telling them our initial strategy for moving their matter forward. Make sure your divorce lawyer does that as well. Top divorce lawyers share their strategy with their clients.

Choosing the wrong divorce lawyer can be a very costly mistake.

Summary of why you need to know how to choose the best divorce lawyers

The best divorce lawyers are the ones that have not only experience, but a track record of happy clients, a proven process where they avoid court at least most of the time, and who are someone you feel you can work with and trust.