“Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, Know when to run”
Divorce litigation is not unlike poker: Smart players know the odds and play the odds. The advantage of having a local attorney with experience is that they have had enough cases and gossip enough with their fellow lawyers to know fairly well what a particular judge’s particular outlook on life and law is.
Several quick stories over the last 30 years of practice.
I represented a man with joint physical custody of his children since the divorce. The parents lived near each other and hated each other. The mother decided she had had enough, wanted to move north of Atlanta with her boyfriend. Known to me but NOT known to her was that our Judge at that time would take away custody from any parent who cohabitated outside marriage. She gets on the stand, regales the Judge with stories about how terrible my client is, then rested her case. I asked one question, “who are the children going to be living with?” She responded: “Me and my boyfriend, he did it too before he got married. “ Without blinking, the Judge gave my client custody of the kids.
Another story: I was representing a young man who was recovering from drug addiction and was on Methadone. He had a child and wanted to visit with the child. On the day of court, a different Judge was substituting for the assigned Judge. I knew two things about this Judge: 1) he hated Methadone; 2) he hated men with earrings. My guy had gauges. My clients were furious with me but I postponed the hearing.
There are a lot of law firms advertising from all over the state to practice family law and criminal law in Fayette and Coweta County. The bigger firms hire associates who may have only practiced law for several years. These young lawyers are very smart and work very hard, but you cannot replace experience in a certain locale, especially in regard to family law, divorce and criminal matters.
Know the odds, play the odds.