Into the Courtroom 105
• Most jurisdictions have court rules that authorize the ten-
dering of “Offers of Settlement” in litigation. These essen-
tially mean that if one side makes an Offer of Settlement at
any point prior to the actual trial of a litigation case, but the
opposing side initially rejects that offer, and if the originally
offering party then gets a result at trial that is as good or bet-
ter than the original offer (i.e., which the opposing side had
earlier rejected), then the party who wrongly rejected the
earlier offer can be required to pay all the attorneys’ fees for
both parties from the time the offer was made onward.
In my personal and professional opinion, many divorce
attorneys fail (for a variety of reasons) to make timely or
sufficient use of this important legal tool. If your case does
wind up in litigation, you should make sure that the law-
yer you select is inclined to make fair and intelligent offers
for feasible settlements as early in the case as is practical
for your situation. You certainly want your attorney to be
skilled, proficient and proactive about structuring and ten-
dering such Offers of Settlement.You should also remember that it is by no means mandatory
that both sides, or even either side, have a lawyer in divorce cases.
A recent study of domestic relations cases in sixteen courts found
that in 53 percent of the divorce cases only one litigant had an
attorney, and in 18 percent of the cases neither party had an attor-
ney. Thus, both parties were represented in only 29 percent of
these divorce cases.
Most courts have fairly well-developed systems for helping pro
se parties (i.e., those who are representing themselves) process
their own divorces. In some progressive states, such as Arizona,
this is becoming more the rule than the exception.
Avoiding Attila the Hun. As the client, you have to be smart
enough to find someone who will look for approaches that can
make your divorce settle fast and cheap. If you are impressed by
the style of a lawyer who comes out of his office sounding like
Attila the Hun (Viking horn helmet optional!) and telling you
how he plans to “win big” in a combative trial, then you may
already be off on the wrong foot. After all, any lawyer who starts