Beware Unbundled Legal services
Updated: Mar 14
The concept behind Unbundled Legal Services is simple. There are some parts of your divorce that you can do yourself. So, you should just pay for the services you need. In theory, this makes sense. In practice, it is problematic.
Your divorce is a package of your circumstances, income and expenses that is used to determine asset distribution, spousal support, child support, and visitation. If you hire someone to perform a part of these services, you will have no clear perspective of the entire package. You need someone involved in the entire process.
There are things you can do that do not require an attorney. But these things are small and don’t save much money. You could do an income and expense form yourself, but the attorney would need to look it over after you have completed it, negating most savings.
In the end, you may find that you saved money, but did not get much help. Or you did a lot of work and saved little money. Remember, the attorney is still going to charge his or her regular rate and has the same incentive to overbill. Also, an attorney providing unbundled services has no incentive to put time and effort understanding your case and the important issues since they are only providing limited services.
In the end, I think you would be better off doing it yourself and saving real money. Or, of course, you can hire me and get full services for less money. You will do much better with an attorney who is “all in” when it comes to your case.