Paul Horton: Divorce Information on the Internet

If you are reading this, I understand you are already looking for divorce information on the internet. Here is something you should know: the cases and the new developments in the law that are listed on the internet are the one in ten thousand rare exception and may not apply to your particular case.

For example, most recently, a Judge in one of our firm’s cases ordered joint shared parenting. This is a very rare occurrence and was the subject of some internet blogs, and a second case reported by official legal publication. Because this issue was so unique, it has brought a huge volume of comment and searches. The “internet spiders” then listed this information as more relevant than all other father’s rights and joint custody information. It has taken the very few (absolutely rare, one in 10,000 exception cases) and turned them into the most searched cases. This is why people who are searching for divorce information on the internet must be careful.

On a daily basis we have clients come into the office. It is important that we are aware of the new developments and we are most often way ahead of all other firms. I say this with confidence because we have eleven attorneys that are in court every day. We handle a wider amount of cases, and we are before more Judges than almost any other firm in Utah that exclusively handles matrimonial law. Therefore, we know the statistics and we know the exceptions to every rule. However, many of our new clients seem to only know the exceptions to the rules and are not familiar with the rule.

For example, if 10,000 cases are all resolving the same way, that is not news. That is not something that is going to be picked up by Google searchers. It is not something that is going to elicit a huge volume of texted, linked (in and out bound) and comments by news worthy sources. It is only the exceptions to the rule that will be subject to link, sharing, in and out bound, together with a large volume of traffic. Therefore, people who are searching for joint custody, unique child support problems, or even specific problems with respect to their case and their fact pattern, may only be getting the exceptions to the rule and not what “normally” occurs on a day to day basis in the courthouse.

Think about it, nobody reports on the day to day cases handled by a Judge. Nobody reports on the law that is practiced daily throughout Utah State, to the same extent, that interest is generated on the exceptions to the rule. Therefore, rather than spending a huge amount of time searching for information about divorces (and often coming up with just the exceptions to the general rules) it is best to contact an attorney.

It is our opinion and our experience that the larger the firm, the greater amount of cases that a law firm will handle. Therefore, the law firm will have real and updated information concerning facts and circumstances affecting couples and children in that location.

Furthermore, it is important to note that when a case is “noteworthy” or “newsworthy” it is usually after the case has “lost” twice or more. Cases in the very lower trial courts in Utah State (Supreme Court) often do not make the news or are newsworthy. It is only after the attorney or the law firm loses the case, that it is appealed to the Appellate Division. Thereafter, it may be appealed again to the Court of Appeals. Then if the case is reversed, or the decision is different or unique, the decision will be noteworthy and it will be the one exception to the rule after a three to five year fight and tens of thousands of dollars. Do not be mistaken, although the Appellate Division and the Court of Appeals will have precedence and may control future decisions, this takes years and there is usually a reason why the case that comes up first on the internet is different from the average day to day case. It stands to reason that if there is one out of every 10,000 cases is newsworthy or notable, your specific case has a very poor chance of fitting into the very exact fact pattern.

When looking through various medical websites such as “Web, M.D.” people often see signs and symptoms that they personalize and feel are applicable to themselves. When looking through the internet, people see just a sampling of the law and the practice of attorneys in matrimonial law. That sampling is not representative of the average case. In fact, it is usually just the exception to the rule. A small amount of legal information is often worse than having a full consultation. Take a full consultation. You owe it to yourself and your children.

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When it’s your divorce on the line, it needs to be done right. So call Ascent Law for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you get your divorce done right.