Document Preparation / Unbundled Services

Typically when you hire an attorney, you are paying them for a bundled service. Say for instance you hire an attorney to represent you during your divorce. Your attorney may represent you from the point you first file until you receive the final court order. This would be considered a bundled service because your attorney is performing a variety of services for you all connected to your divorce, from filing paperwork to making court appearances. The benefit to this is you have someone representing you at every step but the downside is the cost.

On the other hand you may have decided to represent yourself in your own divorce or other family law matter. The Superior Court recognizes that many people do in fact represent themselves and has created a fairly comprehensive Self Service Center. The Self Service Center does not offer legal advice, but it does provide a variety of court approved documents and corresponding directions that make life much easier for the self represented litigant. However, these documents are geared towards typical cases and do not offer much room for deviation. Often times the self represented litigant will be faced with a situation that is not covered by a standard form.

An attorney who offers unbundled services is willing to do work for you in parts. Perhaps you simply want someone to draft your petition and you want to handle the rest, or maybe you are stuck on a particular issue that you need help with but cannot afford to hire an attorney to represent you. Unbundled services are a way for you to keep costs down but get help when you need it. Unbundled services offer you a lot of variety. You can hire an attorney to only draft a single motion, or you could even hire an attorney to draft all of your documents while you make the court appearances. You and the attorney you choose can arrive at a position that works for both of you.