Family Court cases can be expensive, ranging from mildly to very expensive depending on the case. Sometimes, cases can become unnecessarily expensive due to the conduct of one of the parties and/or attorneys involved in the case.
I often explain to my clients that things can be done the easy way or the hard way. Generally, it is best for everyone that cases be resolved the "easy" way, but of course that takes the efforts of everyone involved to work toward that end.
Because of the issues involved in Family Court cases, emotions can run high and people do not always think with clear, pure thoughts at all times. An experienced attorney can often serve as the "voice of reason", which might result in the attorney encouraging his client to give certain issues additional thought to help avoid hasty (and later regretted) decisions.
Unfortunately, the other party’s attorney can also help escalate the animosity in a case and make it much nastier than it might otherwise be. Take for instance the Los Angeles lawyer who aggravated a simple divorce case into a costly legal feud by sending the other side sarcastic letters and briefs. A state appeallate court found that the letters and briefs sent by that attorney were “outrageous” and “served only to prolong these proceedings and waste the parties’ money” in rejecting his request for $250,000 in fees.
It certainly seems that the actions taken by the attorney in that case were uncalled for and indefensible. Such conduct reflects poorly on all attorneys, and I am glad that the appellate court referred the attorney in that case to the State Bar of California for possible discipline. There are times that attorneys must act aggressively to protect their clients’ interests, but they must take care to ensure that they act reasonably while doing so.
You can read more about the actions of the California attorney in the following article: "Court Says Attorney Turned Peaceful Divorce Into Costly Feud" published in the San Diego Union-Tribune.