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Want A Do-It-Yourself Divorce? Hire A Coach

Fairfield family law attorney adds new twist to her practice

By DOUGLAS S. MALAN

After 20 years of practicing family law, Fairfield attorney Susan Wakefield was ready to give it all up for a new career. Litigation was a grind, neither party in the divorce and custody cases was ever happy and the process left Wakefield emotionally drained.

The breaking point came last year when a client whom Wakefield went out of her way to help stiffed her for several thousands dollars in unpaid legal fees.

But before she leapt out of the law, she hatched an idea—to find a way to help clients without Wakefield actually having to go to court. Her inspiration came at a good time, when a record number of pro se litigants are trying to navigate Connecticut courthouses.

Since January, Wakefield has expanded her practice to include what is called legal coaching or consulting. When self-represented parties come to her, Wakefield helps them figure out the process for themselves. Her services range from explaining documents and legal terms to assisting with post-divorce motions for contempt and modification.

“I’m trying to get away from the litigation end of my practice and focus on helping people navigate their way through the system,” Wakefield said.

And there are plenty of people to help. The Judicial Branch has created a Self-Represented Parties Committee to find ways to streamline the court process and make it more accessible to pro se litigants, who are now involved in about 70 percent of family law cases in the state.

Wakefield would receive calls from people who said they couldn’t afford the $5,000 to $15,000 retainer for a full-service family law attorney. And she grew increasingly uncomfortable about charging $400 an hour for her litigation services.

“Attorneys’ fees have escalated to the point that I couldn’t justify what I had to charge just to keep up” with other lawyers, Wakefield said, some of whom are charging around $675 an hour.

And she has seen the effects of protracted court battles. Families are left broken and sometimes penniless and the effect on children can be damaging. “I don’t feel good in that system,” Wakefield said. “I’m trying to dissuade people from considering litigation as their first choice.”

On Their Own

But is family law something that non-lawyers can handle on their own?

“It depends on the issue,” said family law attorney Thomas Colin of Schoonmaker, George & Colin in Greenwich. “If it’s a high-conflict child custody matter with a lot of emotions, I don’t think that’s going to work. But if it’s a straight-forward financial transaction between two people who want a divorce, then I think it can work.”

Bridgeport attorney Harold Brienes is a believer in staying out of court and representing clients through a collaborative divorce process involving mediation between both parties. Wakefield’s pro se strategy is different in that she doesn’t meet with both sides.

“It sounds good,” Brienes said of Wakefield’s plan. “Whatever people need they should be getting.”

When she considered this new route, Wakefield contemplated the risks of assisting clients with only specific portions of a family law case. If something went wrong with the case in general, she didn’t want to be liable based on her brief involvement. “I felt comfortable that my retainer agreement covers what my role is,” she said.

But she hears skepticism from lawyers who don’t believe laymen are capable of navigating the process without retaining a lawyer. Some believe that self-representation is a waste of time because the parties end up with lawyers in the end.

Wakefield isn’t buying that. “Pro se parties are not going away,” she said. “They’re not getting rich overnight, and a majority of them can’t afford attorneys.”

‘Life Choice’

Wakefield continues to practice as a mediator and a litigator in some matters, but she’s more selective about those cases. Without having to spend so much time on court appearances, Wakefield said she’s able to offer advice to pro ses at hourly rates reduced by 30 to 50 percent.

“People can’t always pay a $15,000 retainer, but a lot of them can afford $1,500,” she said. “I’ve never tried to convince people that they can’t do it themselves. I make people learn the process and do their homework. They become an active participant and we work together.”

But Wakefield acknowledges that not every case is suitable for a lawyer to be working behind the scenes. Sometimes what could start as a legal coaching matter could evolve into something larger and more complex; at that point, she could decide whether to continue with the case.

Eventually, she’d like half of her practice to include legal coaching. “It may not be as lucrative,” she said, “but it’s an emotional choice, a life choice that I want to make.” •