When we handle a divorce, our goal is not to take the case to trial. We are not scared of going into court and do not mind the hard work and preparation it takes to be ready for trial. However, there are three main reasons to avoid trial.
First, there is an increased risk of a bad outcome, one that our client is unhappy with and would not have agreed to if given the choice. During the negotiation process pre-trial, our client is never forced to agree to an outcome that they cannot live with. Once the decision-making is out of our hands at a trial, a bad outcome becomes a real risk. In divorce cases, the decision-maker at trial is the Judge. This is different from one of our personal injury cases,where the decision-maker is usually a group of jurors. The Judge is usually somewhat knowledgeable about family law matters, but as they also must regularly decide many other types of legal cases, they are not family law specialists. Judges have broad discretion in Washington State to make rulings that they believe are fair for the divorcing parties and in the best interests of the children. This means that judges have a wide range of possible decisions on a divorce.
Second, the client must go through significant additional stress and time spent on the case. In preparing for trial, the client is quite involved in helping the lawyer prepare the evidence to make arguments on the financial issues at stake. The client also helps organize witnesses to testify regarding the parenting in the case. The client also gives live testimony at trial and must remain in the same courtroom with their spouse throughout the trial.
Lastly, trial is usually expensive for clients, as it demands many hours of diligent preparation to capably present the case. The evidence needs to be organized, pretrial briefs need to be written to start convincing the judge of our position, and then all the actual arguments and examination of witnesses during the trial. This adds up to significant legal fees for the client.
So how do we advise our client whether going to trial is necessary? Using our years of experience, we analyze the range of likely outcomes that the judge will decide on the case. This involves looking at many important issues, such as distribution of all assets and debts, amount of child support, amount of spousal support, and a parenting plan for the children. If there is a settlement offer available in what we see as the reasonable range of outcomes, we usually advise our client to settle the case to assure avoiding a bad outcome, to limit the additional stress and time spent, and to avoid the large amount of additional legal fees.
However, sometimes the opposing party cannot agree to an outcome that is in that range of what we believe is likely to occur at trial. This can either be due to misguided advice from the opposing lawyer, or it can be that the opposing party cannot bear to listen to the good advice from their lawyer. Sometimes, the opposing party might even attempt to represent themselves, and they may be unaware of what a court is likely to do with their case.
Recently, we had a divorce case where the opposing party was unwilling to agree to a result within the reasonable range of outcomes. This meant that we had our first in-person divorce trial since before the pandemic. We are pleased to report that we were able to secure a strong decision from the Snohomish County Superior Court Judge, which allowed our client to keep all his financial accounts, all his business interests, and over half of the equity in the family home. On the parenting side, we were able to prove the need for limitation of time with the children for the opposing party based upon a history of drug and alcohol problems and a lack of emotional ties with the children. Our client received 97% of overnights with the children and sole decision-making power for education, healthcare, and religion. This was certainly an instance where it made sense to go through the trial process to secure a better outcome for our client than was available in the settlement negotiations.
