WHERE TO GET LEGAL HELP

Where Can You Get Legal Help if You Need It?

The lists which follow do not necessarily include all the services available in your area. The agencies and organizations named are intended as a starting point.

1. Attorneys. If you want to retain a lawyer, but do not know who could help you, ask divorced friends and divorce support groups if they would recommend someone. Yellow Pages listings are confusing at best and do not reveal much information. Biographical information about the attorneys you choose to interview can be found in Martindale-Hubbell, a national directory of attorneys found in many libraries. Attorneys can charge between $50-225 per hour.

2. Lawyer Referral Services. If the Yellow Pages listing is overwhelming or you and your friends cannot come up with any names, you can locate an attorney through an attorney referral service. Generally, for a modest fee the referral service will set up an appointment for you with an attorney who participates in the referral services program. One criteria for attorney participation in the referral program is that the attorney must pay a fee to the program and be a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Local bar associations maintain referral services. Some of the more commonly consulted programs are listed in the Appendix.

Other lawyer referral programs are also listed there.

If you are on public assistance or otherwise qualify as a "low income" person, you may qualify for free or low fee legal services.

3. Self Help Programs through your Local County Bar Association. One excellent resource may be your local bar association. Many of the local county bar associations are exploring innovative "self help" programs to assist low income persons obtain divorces. Sometimes this will take the form of self-help courses for divorcing persons. Others will provide materials and an "ombudsman" necessary to help you accomplish your divorce. At a minimum, the local bar will direct you to where you may find more help.

The Seattle-King County Bar, for example, offers an excellent self-help program for persons with a low income. Attorneys from the Family Law Clinic instruct classes on how to complete a divorce. Volunteer legal assistants are also present to give personal attention to questions relating to the completing of forms. The goal of the class is that participants leave with a draft of the petition, summons, and other paperwork necessary for a dissolution. A legal assistant will also take each class on a tour of the courthouse to give instruction about filing forms. Presently, the course consists of only one class which lasts about 3 hours.

After attending a course, the class members can call the Bar to ask questions regarding forms, filing procedure, etc. The clinic director will usually refer advice and consultation callers to a panel of volunteer attorneys. The class materials cost about $17.00 and the course fee is $5.00 (but check current prices; they may differ.) If the divorcing party is a welfare recipient, the fee is waived. The materials include an instruction packet regarding the course, a divorce timeline and comprehensive instructions on how to answer some of the more difficult questions that surface during a divorce. Also included is a self-help divorce book that contains examples of completed forms and blank ones for actual use, plus more background on the divorce process such as video presentations.

The Seattle-King County Bar, working with Northwest Women's Law Center and New Beginnings, has also begun a family law clinic which offers one-hour consultations with volunteer attorneys for persons who are unable to afford the full legal fees of a divorce action. Priority is given to emergency cases of domestic violence and matters including children. Appointments are arranged through New Beginnings. The number for them is 783-2848, and you must call between 1:00 and 3:00 PM on Wednesdays.

Other volunteer legal services programs are listed in the Appendix.

Given the substantial number of persons choosing to handle their own divorces, it is hoped that the bar associations and courts around the state will foster and promote more such programs, including video tape sessions available to the public, regardless of income level, which will assist them in processing their own divorces.

The American Bar Association has a committee formed solely for the purpose of providing access for delivery of legal services to people unable to afford high legal costs. The Maricopa Self Help Project has had a large influence on providing access to people both on the individual level as well as being an example of a project from which other counties can form their own access services.

4. Courthouse Facilitators. An exciting breakthrough in self-representation has occurred in seven counties of our state. The legislature has funded pilot project divorce facilitator programs. These "facilitators" help people represent themselves in court. The facilitators do not offer straight forward legal advice. However, you can obtain assistance on procedural matters associated with dissolution, custody, and child support.

Often, the facilitators will refer you to other social and legal service agencies for additional help, if you need it. They will help you fill out the forms and explain some of the complicated legal terms that appear all too often in statutes and court forms. Most of the current facilitators are not lawyers. They do not engage in the practice of law. They are very helpful to those who are having trouble with the procedures for initiating or completing a dissolution. Particularly when you need to modify one of the court mandated legal forms to meet your specific needs, a facilitator can be very helpful.

For self-helpers living in counties where the Courthouse Facilitator Project is operating, consider yourselves very fortunate to have this free service available to you.

The Appendix lists the current facilitators. If you live in a county that does not appear on the list, call your county clerk's office to see if your county has recently adopted the Courthouse Facilitator Project.

5. Legal Clinics. If you feel that your case will require limited services from a lawyer you may wish to employ a legal clinic. Clinics often handle cases on a large volume basis using standardized forms and relying heavily on legal assistants. Clinics typically charge lower rates than most attorneys. Many clinics allow clients to participate in some or all of the steps involved in a dissolution. On the negative side, you cannot realistically expect them to provide you with personal or emotional support. A partial list of proprietary legal clinics is found in the Appendix.

6. Other resources. Before starting your divorce it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with some actual divorce cases. Divorce proceedings are public record so you may simply go to your county courthouse and ask the county clerk if you may review some divorce files. The files will contain actual property settlements, maintenance agreements and pleadings.

7. Alternatives to Getting a Lawyer Involved: Counseling, Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation. If you have children, the law now requires you to list a means other than court action for resolving future disputes relating to children.

The three primary methods for resolving disputes out of court are through counselling, mediation and arbitration.

Counseling. The goal of counseling is to promote emotional growth of one or both spouses. The counselor helps you understand and accept yourself and suggests helpful changes in your attitudes and habits.

Mediation. Mediation is a process whereby a neutral third party helps a divorcing couple identify the issues in their divorce and, by exploring alternatives with them, come to solutions both spouses can accept. For divorcing couples who are still able to communicate with each other, mediation is an increasingly popular method for settling marital conflicts out of court. To work, both spouses have to be willing to disclose all facts. You have to trust that your spouse won't be lying or concealing facts. And, you should feel sufficiently empowered, that is, in an approximately equal bargaining position, before attempting mediation. The mediator's goal is to help spouses reach agreement and provide for protection of the children during this time of spousal conflict. A good mediator will narrow the issues, if not settle your dispute entirely.

The Family Court of the Superior Court in your county should have a list of mediators in your area.

For example, King County offers a very extensive Family Court Services Program professionally staffed by trained social workers and counselors skilled in investigating, evaluating and mediating parenting disputes. Since the King County Court requires that any parenting issue must first be mediated before the court will allow the dispute to be submitted to a trial judge, the family court has developed an extensive mediation program. Participants must attend a two and a half hour orientation seminar and view a videotape about mediation for which each individual is charged a $10.00 fee ($5.00 for low-income persons). Depending upon the parents' income levels, there are sliding scale fees for providing follow-up mediations or evaluation services. Many parenting disputes are resolved amicably at this level and the parents are able to obtain their final Decree of Dissolution shortly after using this service.

Copies of the Family Court Services' fee schedule and procedures for mediated services and/or evaluations can be obtained by contacting the Family Law Section of the King County Bar Association or:

Family Court Services, Central Building Suite 300, Third and James, Seattle, Washington 98104, phone: (206)296-9400

You can also write to the Mediation Consortium of Washington State, P.O. Box 4323, Pioneer Station, Seattle, WA 98104 and request a list of mediators in your area. Divorce mediators canbe found in the Yellow Pages in larger metropolitan areas under the listing "Mediation Services".

Conciliation - a non-service: Another lesser known service, "Conciliation" is supposedly available by law in every county of this state. This specialized mediation service is provided by statute. The purpose of the conciliation service is to reduce "acrimony" and help couples develop agreements assuring "close and continuing contact by both parents" and their children after the marriage is dissolved. At this writing, few courts actually utilize this mandated program. Hopefully, within the next several years, as the demand for mediation grows, the legislature will develop and realistically fund a true "conciliation" service.

Arbitration. Arbitration, like mediation, involves the use of a neutral third party to assist the divorcing couple identify and resolve the issues in their divorce. Unlike mediation, the process is final in that if the parties cannot resolve their dispute, the arbitrator will make the decision for them. Arbitration is one of the options provided to parents under the 1987 Parenting Act. Some well known arbitration services which have recently undertaken domestic disputes are listed in the Appendix.

Other arbitration services can be found in the Yellow Pages of your telephone directory.

---

Return to the Table of Contents

---