OUR PHILOSOPHY AND APPROACH
Divorce is, most commonly, an unavoidably stressful life event. At Turco Legal our approach to the practice of family law is to be prepared but pragmatic. Thorough and comprehensive but with every step having a meaningful purpose. Our job is to shepherd you through the emotional turmoil and get you the outcome to which you are entitled.
EDUCATION
You won’t appreciate a great result unless you understand how this area of the law works. So, our first step is to educate you and that starts during your initial consultation. Yes, there are complexities in every area of law, including family law. But, all complex concepts can be boiled down to understandable, digestible terms. We get you the best possible result when you understand what’s important and what’s not, so that is our focus from day one.
STRATEGY
Regardless of the feelings you currently have about your spouse, the objective of divorce is to conclude the process with the best possible result for you and your children. And, your chances of getting the best result improve when we work together to devise a case strategy. One size simply doesn’t fit all in divorce and that makes perfect sense. The probate and family judges can exercise incredible discretion and every case has its own set of facts and circumstances. You need to be part of case strategy development because you and your spouse know the facts better than I, your spouse’s lawyer, or the judge ever will. Spending time, particularly early in the process, developing a case strategy is time well spent.
PLANNING
Once you have an understanding of how the law will be applied to your case and have helped in the development of our strategy, a work plan must be set down to ensure we have all the evidence we need to win our case in settlement or trial. Essentially, if we end up at trial in your case, we’ll need to prove to the judge the existence of a number of facts, such as the value of assets, the parenting ability and history each parent has played, income of the parties for the purpose of support, and either party’s greater ability to pay attorney fees. We will need to convince the judge of our positions, which can be particularly challenging when the issue is debatable, such as the value of a business, and we anticipate a counterargument from your spouse. It takes time to gather the admissible evidence necessary to prove facts and so, to avoid a needless last minute scramble, we take a thoughtful and comprehensive approach from the very beginning.
PREPARATION
Whether we’re going before the judge to argue a motion or an outcome at trial or we’re going to mediation or a four-way settlement conference to negotiate resolution, the unprepared lawyer is at a severe disadvantage. Knowing the applicable law and having the relevant evidence available are two crucial steps to obtaining an ideal result. The time involved in a hearing or a negotiation are so relatively short compared to the length of the case that you would be foolish to go in unprepared, yet many do. Being prepared doesn’t just mean having what’s needed to argue your case. It also requires you to be prepared to argue against the anticipated position of the other lawyer. What evidence will the other side present and what argument will you have to exclude or minimize it? Will the other side show up with surprise witnesses? Exhibits without proper authentication? There are dozens of questions we challenge ourselves with beforehand so we’re not trying to figure them out on the spot.
ETHICAL APPROACH
We take the practice of law very seriously. It’s not just a job or a single case. It’s a career and a life’s mission. That said, we always consider the ethical implications of our actions on a case and we do so for several reasons. First, it’s really who we are as individuals. While we are effectively aggressive and will zealously advocate our position, we don’t do so by breaking the rules. It’s a desperate, short-sighted lawyer who does. The world of family law practice is a small one. We appear before the same judges and litigate the same lawyers over and over and over again. Forfeiting credibility with the individuals with whom we go up against and the individuals who decide our cases would be a foolish, illogical step that would ultimately be a detriment to our clients. Instead, we take the high road and we take it always. Judges and opposing counsels alike know our firm as one of integrity and credibility and you will too, or you won’t be our client.