It's come to this. You've gone through the mediation. You've tried to settle things between the two of you. You've given arbitration a shot and things are becoming exhausted when it comes to settling things in the family court and there's a trial looming. It's the last place anyone wants to be, and as Shon tells us today, it really is the last resort, but it happens and to many, it's an issue that they've never faced and can be quite daunting.
Part of the job of any attorney is to help prepare their client for what's to come should there be a trial. Hey, let's face it, your entire life is about to be spilled out in front of everyone in a courtroom. What's not to be nervous about? Questions, answers, inflections, tones facial expressions and things like cross examination, objections etc.....they can throw off the best of the best. How's the average person supposed to come in and handle all that? It's an entire process and it begins with that relationship with your attorney and carries through to the end.
All of the advance work going in adds to the proceedings. There's a lot of it too. It's all filed in advance before the opening statements start and as it all unfolds, the chess match starts. As Shon will explain this week, for the attorney's, this is where they exercise what they are skilled to do. For the clients, it's a matter of two people who at one point only saw the "happily ever after" now sitting at separate tables unable to agree on anything and willing to let a stranger who's read the briefs and heard the arguments up to this point decide on their future.
Shon makes it all very understandable and thought provoking. Take a listen to her thoughts on going to trial on this weeks episode of Saturdays with Shon on the Muskegon Channel.
So many things we talk about with family law teeter right on the edge of sadness and new beginnings. What's important is to find an attorney who truly understands that and brings compassion, understanding and savvy to the process and tries very hard to make sure that the outcome for their client come first of course, but that the outcome comes in a way that's best for all parties. Week in and week out, Shon Cook shows you by example why she's that attorney.
