The “Free” Utah Divorce Attorney Consultation That Isn’t
Finding a Utah divorce attorney is difficult.
You probably started your search by going to the internet and doing general research on divorce.
After a while, you started focusing in on particular attorneys you may want to meet with.
That’s tough, though, because divorce attorneys almost always say the same things on their websites.
Mostly, what they say is something like: “I’m great. Come meet with me. What do you have to lose? The consultation’s free.”
A divorce consultation sounds reasonable enough, so, why not give it a try? You’re not out any money.
Couple reasons.
First, divorce consultations are worthless.
I’ve written about this before (click here to read the post), but let me recap the main points.
Free consultations a marketing gimmick to get you in the door. The attorney will usually listen to you for 15–20 minutes, not really answer your questions or give you a plan, and then spend the next 10–15 minutes telling you how to pay so he can answer your questions and give you a plan.
Like I said: worthless.
Second, divorce consultations aren’t actually “free.”
As if “free” consultations being a waste of time weren’t bad enough, they aren’t “free” at all.
You end up paying for the consultation. Here’s how.
- Attorneys increase their hourly rates to make up for the time spent in “free” consultations.
Almost all Utah divorce attorneys bill by the hour, which means all their marketing and overhead — including the time they spend in divorce consultations — is baked in to their hourly rates.
This means you pay a higher hourly rate in order to make up for the “free” consultation you “didn’t pay for” upfront.
What’s more: you also pay for everyone else’s “divorce consultations.”
Attorneys have to recoup all that lost time somewhere, and one way is through increasing their hourly rates.
- Making up that “free” time is easy for attorneys. All they have to do is bill for every little email and phone call.
Like I said, almost every Utah divorce attorney bills by the hour.
Actually, they bill in 6-minute increments or 12-minute increments.
Now, attorneys almost never bill for every email and phone call, even though they could. Often, they let slide 1- or 2-minute phone calls, as well as short email exchanges.
However, if an attorney wants to make up time spent in a “free” consultation, it’s really easy to charge for two or three short emails and phone calls that would normally go unbilled.
Conclusion
Free consultations sound great, but they aren’t a good deal.
You won’t get the information you need during the consultation, and you’ll end up paying for it anyway.
The best thing you can do is pay for your initial consultation, have a real, in-depth conversation with an attorney, get the information you need, and develop a plan to help you and your family through divorce.
Call Brown Family Law
If you find yourself facing a Utah divorce, please call 801.685.9999 for an in-person consultation, or use our online scheduling tool.
