Making the Leap from Unbundled Help to Full Representation

Knowing When to Go All In: Making the Leap from Unbundled Help to Full Representation

Sometimes in life—and in law—you reach a moment when small steps aren’t enough anymore. You start off doing things piece by piece, learning as you go, and keeping costs manageable. But there comes a time when your goals, challenges, or risks grow to a point where it makes more sense to go all in and hiring a lawyer on a full retainer.  

That moment often arrives in the world of family law too. Many people begin with unbundled legal help—getting advice on specific issues, having documents reviewed, or getting help preparing for a hearing. It’s a smart, flexible way to have a lawyer in your corner without committing to full representation right away. But as your case evolves, your needs might change.

1. When the stakes rise

In family law matters, the stakes are always high. However, sometimes people start out thinking they are going to get a fair shake from their ex-spouse, but they learn that the fair shake might not be coming their way. 

Maybe the other party’s position and actions could significantly affect your finances, time with your children, or your long-term security.

It is at this time when you might want to consider bringing in full representation. A skilled lawyer managing every part of your case can spot issues early, coordinate strategy, and take pressure off your shoulders so you can focus on what matters most.

An example of this happened with someone we will call Randy. Randy and his wife separated. Because she was the one to end the marriage (she was having an affair with Randy’s former best friend), he thought they would be able to reach a final agreement without too much difficulty. He consulted with one of the lawyers at Pathway Legal using unbundled representation thinking that their matter was pretty straight forward. He assumed they would divide their assets and share the parenting. They both earned about the same amount of money so support was not at issue. At least so Randy thought. 

The problem for Randy was that his ex-spouse not only wanted her financial entitlement, she also wanted to take the children away from him. Within days of separation she went to court behind Randy’s back and tried to convince a judge that she and the children were in danger from Randy and that she needed a Protection Order. We found this very surprising because Randy seemed like such a kind and calm person. 

When we asked if there was family violence, he said that his ex spouse would often hit him or throw things at him, but he never retaliated. 

The Judge didn’t buy his ex’s abuse story either. She was forced to “serve” Randy with court papers. Randy’s ex then said that Randy’s parenting time with their two children had to be supervised by a professional. Her demands were ever changing. What this all demonstrated to Randy was that this ex was not about to play fair. 

Randy decided to hire us as his full representation or his family law matter. Randy made the right choice. If he had never hired us, he would have continued to be pushed around by his ex. She would have continued her pattern of making very unreasonable demands of him. The good news is that we were able to settle the matter at mediation.

2. When the complexity grows

At first, matters might seem simple—sorting out parenting time or dividing assets you both agree on. But if things start to get tangled, with multiple court filings, unexpected reactions, or new legal issues popping up, coordination becomes key. A lawyer seeing the full picture can adapt in real time and keep you ahead of complications.

Having said this, it is our view that even if the complexity grows, you do not necessarily need to hire a lawyer on full retainer. When the complexity grows, perhaps you can save a significant amount of your resources by hiring a lawyer only when necessary. If you are in this situation, often it is useful that you “stickhandle” communications and groundwork while you save your lawyer for the “big stuff” such as giving advice on agreements made, or assisting you at a contested trial or arbitration. 

3. When the process drains you

Handling parts of your case alone can be empowering. Yet, if the stress begins to take over your focus or your personal life, that’s a sign it might be time to delegate. 

A big issue for folks is that when they are drained of energy when dealing with their family law matter, they might understandably avoid the many things they must be doing in order to move their case forward. In essence, sometimes people would rather stick their head in the sand than draft their financial statement, gather up and list important documents, or retain a necessary expert. 

Full representation doesn’t just provide legal expertise—it gives you peace of mind that someone else is steering the process. You can get on with all the other things in your life that require your attention and you can leave the other stuff to your lawyer to manage. In such cases you still have to be involved, but the heavy lifting in terms of the many steps that might need to be done in your matter are managed by your lawyer and their legal team.

4. When your goals change

Sometimes, your vision for what you want shifts along the way. You might start by aiming for a quick resolution and later realize you need a more strategic, long-term approach. That’s exactly when full representation helps you recalibrate and move forward with clarity and confidence.

5. When you are going into a high stakes hearing

If there is ever a time to hire a lawyer to see something through, it is when you are heading into a courtroom or arbitration. In such cases, you and your ex need a third party to decide your issue.

For whatever reason, you have been unable to come to an agreement with your ex-spouse. This might be a financial matter, a parenting issue, or a question about the amount of support that is to be paid. In our experience that even when folks have been acting on their own behalf, this is the time to invest in a lawyer to help you run your hearing. It helps level the playing field, particularly if your ex-spouse is represented by a lawyer of their own.

6. When your ex-spouse has hired a high-conflict lawyer who increases the conflict

Unfortunately for many families, every town or city seems to have that lawyer or law firm known for their ability to increase conflict, and who drive matters to trial or arbitration. In such cases it really helps to have a lawyer who is experienced in dealing with those particular lawyers or law firms. Such lawyers and law firms do not play by the usual methods that most lawyers of us lawyers do, that is, we work hard at coming to an agreement knowing that the emotional and financial cost of trials and arbitration will, almost always, significantly outweigh any kind of “win.” Despite this being the case, in our experience at Pathway Legal, when such lawyers are hired, the likelihood of the matter going to trial or arbitration increases significantly. 

When such high-conflict lawyers are involved, significant time and resources can end up being spent in mediation and other modalities of negotiation to no end. Although, at Pathway Legal, we always say that mediation is useful, it is not as useful in situations where the other party absolutely refuses to make a credible offer of resolution. 

When you have a lawyer like this on the other side, you want your lawyer to know that the likelihood of settlement is low, so the trial date or arbitration date should be set without delay. It puts at least some pressure on the other side to settle rather than drag their clients through the trial process . 

The point here is that you don’t want to spend all of your resources trying to negotiate with an impossible person knowing the likelihood of settlement is low. Save your resources for the contested hearing. 

Hire a lawyer who knows this beast and who will help you get in front of the judge if necessary.

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