Sometimes clients confuse the role of an attorney with a mediator.  If you decide to “take your spouse to the cleaners” and you retain a lawyer you rightly assume that attorney’s role is to represent you to the full extent of his/her ability.  What does this mean?  While he/she should inform you about the strengths and weaknesses of your case that is not the role with your spouse’s counsel.  Then his/her role is to disguise the weaknesses of your case and to emphasize its strengths.

The attorney as mediator, however, must remain firmly in the middle between the parties.  His/her job is to make sure that each party makes informed decisions, not to slant the agreement in one direction to achieve a settlement.  In the final analysis, this is all you should want:  full knowledge about the other party’s finances and someone who explains how the law or courts treat each issue in your case.  In this manner you should arrive at an equitable result without the burden of huge legal fees.