Is it worth going to trial?

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Is it worth going to trial? And that question really centers around the cost versus benefits of going to trial. There’s an old saying that going to trial is like going to heaven. Everyone wants to go there, just not tomorrow or just not today. And the issue with going to trial, first and foremost, is it’s expensive. You know, trials and divorce cases will take, you know, typically no less than two days. And they can take. If you have a jury trial, they could take as long as, you know, eight to nine court days. So we go to trial when we believe that the outcome in trial is likely a better result than what we have been able to negotiate.

And I always like to say that if a case ends up in trial, it usually means that one of the parties or one of the attorneys is. Is being unreasonable. Okay? And that gives you an indication of why a case ended up in trial. And judges understand that when judges appear to preside over a final trial, in their back of their mind, they’re gonna be thinking, okay, we’re here because one of these two litigants is being unreasonable. And fairly early on in the trial, the judge will be able to ascertain who that person is. So I always like, also to make sure that I sit down with my clients and, you know, I’ll prepare usually a spreadsheet that basically provides all the hours and all the costs that are going to be associated with going to trial. And then you have to.

The client has to weigh that versus. Okay, what is ultimately the financial benefit if I spend all that money in going to trial? And that’s for financial reasons. Obviously, in custody cases, the financial issue really doesn’t. It’s not strictly a cost versus benefit analysis, because, you know, custody cases are obviously not about money. They’re about children and about what’s in the best interest of the children. And I always tell them, look, I cannot guarantee what’s going to happen in trial. The only guarantee that I can give you is that we are going to be fully prepared, that we are going to present your case to the best of our abilities with the understanding that things may not go our way. You know, because the judge is the one who decides.

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