Four Types of Services

There are four types of services offered in all the practice areas we handle:

Representation. Appearing as attorney of record at court for hearings and trials, preparing documents, communicating with opposing counsel and others, gathering information, and other legal services needed to resolve your family law dispute.

Consultation. Sometimes you don’t need full-blown representation. You may need to simply to ask some questions about the law or help with a specific aspect of your dispute, like dividing retirement assets for example. You may only need help getting through a phase of the process or a specific hearing. You also may have limited financial means and want to save money by doing as much of the work as possible yourself. You remain the person responsible for following your case schedule and handling your filings, while still having an attorney to answer legal questions.

Collaborative Law. Also called Collaborative Divorce, Collaboration, or Collaborative Practice, Collaborative Law is an alternative dispute resolution process that takes your family’s of probate conflicts out of the court and into reasoned negotiation and interest-based problem solving. The parties agree not to “roll the dice” by taking their disputes to court and then having to live with whatever the judge rules. Instead, you take control of the decisions in your dispute and commit to coming to agreed solutions. Unlike traditional divorce, the win-win approach behind Collaborative Law allows you to proceed reasonably, work with financial experts to assure the best possible financial outcome for both partners or spouse, and consult with parenting and child development specialists to help your children to healthily adjust to the changes in their lives. Susan Carroll is a member of Washington Collaborative Law (www.washcl.org) and has special training in collaborative law, mediation, and interest-based negotiation.

Preparation. Everyone knows they should likely have a will, especially if you have minor children. Susan Carroll can help you think through the issues specific to your family and your estate and plan for them in both your will and non-probated-property (ex. retirement accounts or life insurance). She can draft wills, health care and financial durable powers of attorney, trusts for minors, health care directives, and burial instructions, plus advise on other end-of-life issues.