Choosing the Right Divorce Lawyer in BC

Choosing the right divorce lawyer is a big decision!

Review this checklist to find the best divorce lawyer. Take it with you to your initial consultation meeting. 

At Pathway Legal, we have served families all over British Columbia. It is our strongly held belief, based on many years of experience, that lawyers committed to alternative dispute resolution make better lawyers. They make better negotiators. They are able to resolve cases more efficiently and effectively, and they do even better when they have to represent their clients in court. 

Why not keep your hard-earned resources for yourself and your family rather than spend exorbitant amounts on legal fees?

Whenever possible, families should avoid the court process because it is costly, not only emotionally, but it is time-consuming and expensive.

We prefer to use the courts as a last resort rather than the place to start for your family law matter. That is part of the Pathway Legal difference.

And yes, of course, if your matter is bound for court, we won’t abandon you. Sometimes court is necessary and at Pathway Legal, we are prepared to represent you there also. Choosing the right divorce lawyer means that the law firm you work with will be able to see your matter right through to its conclusion, even if there are some unexpected surprises along the way. 

Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Litigation and alternative dispute resolution are two different ways of resolving your family law matter. 

Litigation is when you resolve your family law matter through the court system. Your family law lawyer presents your case to a judge. Decisions about dividing your assets, your parenting plan, and how much support is paid is handed over to a judge. That judge has never met you, never met your spouse and has never met your kids. 

Alternative dispute resolution, on the other hand, offers a vast range of methods available to resolve your family law matter. For example, if you are looking for an alternative dispute resolution lawyer in Vancouver, British Columbia, or anywhere else in British Columbia, for that matter, alternative dispute resolution strategies, include four-way meetings, negotiation, mediation, mediation-arbitration, and collaborative family law. 

When choosing the right divorce lawyer for your case, consider alternative dispute resolution. It tends to be much quicker, less expensive, less stressful, and more flexible than litigation. 

This is why at Pathway Legal we like to avoid litigation whenever possible!

Why You Should Choose an Alternative Dispute Resolution Lawyer

Alternative dispute resolution requirements include lawyers taking many hours of additional training which includes in-depth negotiation strategies, interest-based mediation and bargaining. Ironically, even if you are headed for a high-conflict divorce choosing the right divorce lawyer will mean that you want them to be committed and trained as an alternative dispute resolution lawyer. 

At Pathway Legal we firmly believe that choosing the best divorce lawyers for our clients means that their lawyer is committed to taking the additional training necessary for the alternative dispute resolution requirements necessary to qualify to be a divorce mediation lawyer. If you're considering alternative dispute resolution, here are some examples that can help you and your ex navigate through the various agreement options, in order to reach an amicable divorce.

Services Delivered By The Pathway Legal Team

Amicable Divorce Lawyer

A legal professional who can guide you through an amicable divorce process will not only save you money but will also save you time and the associated stress that comes with a long, emotionally taxing, expensive drawn-out process.

When choosing the right divorce lawyer for your case, be sure to ask them what percentage of their cases stay out of the litigation process. If it is super-high they will be a good candidate.  Here's more about getting an amicable divorce in British Columbia.

Collaborative Divorce Lawyer

If you are hoping for an amicable divorce, you might want to discover more about collaborative family law in British Columbia. If you and your ex-spouse are relatively amicable, choosing the right lawyer might just be one that is trained in the collaborative family law process. 

Not all lawyers can practice using collaborative family law. They have to qualify first, with additional training and have to have significant family law experience.

Divorce Mediation with Lawyers

The most common method an alternative dispute resolution lawyer will choose is to resolve our matter is divorce mediation with lawyers. This means that you, your lawyer, your ex-spouse and their lawyer sit with a trained family law mediator. The mediator, who is neutral, guides you to resolve your matter. 

When you have a successful divorce mediation with lawyers it means that you have settled all the issues of your family law matter using the divorce mediation process. That is what a “win” is when using mediation. 

At Pathway Legal, we can often get a case resolved in one day of divorce mediation with lawyers. Compared to litigation, that is a fraction of the time to see your matter resolved.

At your initial consultation, your Pathway Legal lawyer will describe the benefits of mediation to you and why you will want to consider it for your situation, depending upon your circumstances.

Ultra High Net Worth Divorce Lawyer

Perhaps your circumstances are different than a lot of other people in British Columbia. If you see yourself and your family as having a high net worth, you will want to ensure you choose the right kind of lawyer for your high net worth circumstances. At Pathway Legal we are experienced in applying the Family Law Act and the common law to our clients’ circumstances when they have high net worth. If this is a situation you find yourself in, then we have more information related to high net worth divorce lawyers, here. 

Spousal Support Lawyer

Simply put, spousal support is money paid by one spouse to the other after they separate. Other words for spousal support are alimony or spousal maintenance. We also need to draw a careful distinction between spousal support, and child support, as they are two uniquely different topics. 

Discover more about how Pathway Legal's Spousal Support lawyers have helped our clients.

The Best Divorce Lawyers at Pathway Legal, British Columbia

What is the best divorce lawyer for you and your unique circumstances? 

Ask your Pathway Legal lawyer about what to look for in:

• The best divorce lawyer for men
• The best child custody lawyer
• Best divorce lawyers for women

The above are just a few examples of how the divorce process can differ from one person to the next. 

As you can see, there is no simple one-size fits all formula to choosing the right divorce lawyer for your case, that is why you will discover more about the Pathway Legal difference at your initial consultation.

Your initial consultation is geared so that we can get to know each other and what is best for your case when deciding on choosing the right divorce lawyer. 

Serving you virtually

We even can serve you virtually!

What happens if you...:

• Don’t live close to our offices, or reside in a remote community?
• Don’t have access to easy transportation?
• Are unable to get away from work or home to visit us? 
• Want really great legal help, but don’t reside in Victoria. 

Find out how Pathway Legal can work with you at remote locations, away from the centre of British Columbia.

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Val Hemminger, divorce lawyer and owner of Pathway Legal, and her team serve families all over BC, including Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Nanaimo, Victoria, Langley, Kelowna, and Maple Ridge.

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It is with our honour and gratitude that we live, work, and play on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.