Trial is only appropriate after you've done your best to try and resolve the matter through settlement or mediation. But sometimes trial is the only way to bring the issues to a close. It's expensive though.
Transcript:
People ask me if I like going to trial. Absolutely, it's the big show. It's the opportunity to put the information in front of a judge so they can use their judicial discretion to make the hard choices.
Now, trial is only appropriate after you've done your best to try and resolve the matter through settlement or mediation and reach reasonable solutions. But sometimes trial is the only way to bring the issues to a close. It's expensive, though, very expensive. We're talking four to five hours of preparation for every hour of trial time at a minimum, and that is after you've tried to settle. So, it's a whole new range of expenses that you have to consider, and that needs to be considered when discussing settlement as well.
People often ask, "Why is divorce so expensive?" It doesn't have to be outlandishly expensive. Now, if you're involving mental health, substance abuse, and children's issues, it can be pricey because those are deeply personal and less cut and dry situations. But here at Burch & Cracchiolo, we have a team of people so that we can use a paralegal or an associate to perform a task or representation in terms of the associate to reduce the overall cost. Now, obviously, I'm providing supervision to these people and keeping a close eye on what is happening, but the more we can involve a broader team, the less overall expense we have.
People come to me for consultation, the drafting of important documents, facilitating service, assisting in the summary divorce process. They use those ways to keep costs down, and my role is to move forward as efficiently and with the guidance that is appropriate for the individual, and that can really reduce costs.