If you follow my advice you probably won’t end up in a legal battle, but sometimes you simply can’t avoid one or you might be in one already. If you’re already in a legal battle, or if you can’t avoid a battle even after following the steps in Make Any Divorce Better, then you have to do what you have to do—get an attorney and fight. If you must fight, you might as well learn how to do it effectively, so welcome to the Battle Group.
Solutions for Legal Battle
Keep in mind that this is a legal battle, it’s all about business—you do not need to battle on a personal or emotional level. In fact, you will be more effective and healthier if you don’t. But you do need to learn:
- How to deal with extreme conflict
- Damage control
- How to protect children
- Winning strategies—hardball or softball?
- How to fight effectively at less expense
- How to choose and use your attorney
- How to fire your attorney (if you want to)
Make Any Divorce Better discusses this information in detail.
The most important thing to remember about legal battle is that you can and should continue working to move your case toward negotiated or mediated agreement, using all the steps discussed in Make Any Divorce Better. This book and the worksheets that come with it will help you stay in control of your attorney and your case.
You should discourage any legal action, heavy-handed letters, or activity that you think is not absolutely necessary and instruct your attorney that you do not want to try to settle divorce issues in court. Instead, you want to negotiate and mediate as soon as possible, and the attorney should work toward that end and avoid litigation. Also talk about this directly with your spouse, if possible, either in person or by mail. Couples frequently end up working out their own terms without their attorneys.