Florida Family Law Notice of Limited Appearance

Often, the parties in a Florida family law case do not have the financial resources to hire an attorney to manage their entire case. These financially-constrained litigants may, in the alternative, hire an attorney with the understanding that he or she will file a Florida Family Law Notice of Limited Appearance. This means that if a litigant wants to hire an attorney for just one proceeding such as a hearing on a motion for contempt, the court-ordered family law mediation, or only for the family law trial, that is a strategy a litigant may employ in an attempt to save on legal fees and costs. It is not optimal to hire an attorney that does not have the full knowledge of the proceedings, and has not been litigating your case since the beginning, but hiring an attorney to protect your best interests is still the optimal choice.

Florida Family Law Rule 12.040

In order to appear on your behalf on a limited appearance basis, a Florida family law attorney such as myself will file a Florida Family Law Notice of Limited Appearance. According to Florida Family Law Rule 12.040, Attorneys may represent a client on a limited basis provided they obtain the client’s informed consent and in some cases the client’s signature. Florida Family Law Rule 12.040(a) specifically provides that: “An attorney of record for a party, in a family law matter governed by these rules, shall be the attorney of record throughout the same family law matter, unless at the time of appearance the attorney files a notice, signed by the party, specifically limiting the attorney’s appearance only to the particular proceeding or matter in which the attorney appears.”

Consider your budget, the benefit that a skilled Florida family law attorney may add to the outcome of your case, and if you want to hire us on a limited basis, we will consider filing a Florida Family Law Notice of Limited Appearance to appear on your behalf at certain hearings, mediations, or trial, as opposed to being your legal counsel for the entire case.

Florida Family Law Notice of Limited Appearance

More simply stated, sometimes Legal Aid or low cost firms are unable to assist an indigent client. At times such as those, what some clients do not know, is that they may hire (if the attorney or law firm is willing) an attorney for limited appearances/representation. This is one way that some law firms, such as ours, makes legal representation affordable. The limitation is just that however, limited representation helps, but does not necessarily resolve all legal issues because the attorney hired for a per-event basis may not have all the background facts and the client may not have properly drafted his/her pleadings. Nevertheless, some attorney help is surely better than none, and affordability is critical for a great number of would-be-clients. An uncontested divorce is one process that may save clients money.

Do you need a divorce and family lawyer for just one hearing or one part of your case? Florida Family Law Rule 12.040 is designed for one-time appearances. Rule 12.040 allows family Attorneys to represent a client on a limited basis if they obtain the client’s informed consent and signature. This Rule is intended to help family law litigants.

The primary reason people represent themselves in a divorce case is affordability. Money, bottom line. Hiring a family attorney represents a challenge for many people to afford. We are here to work with you to make representation a reality.

The four most common situations wherein the Jacobs Law Firm represents clients by a Notice of Limited Appearance are:

1. Family law trials are immensely important. If your case has gotten all the way to trial and you need representation, we will litigate on your behalf with a great deal of preparation.
2. Mediation is scheduled and you want representation at the negotiating table to affirm and represent your financial and parental rights.
3. A motion for enforcement and contempt needs to be filed and brought before the court. The other side has failed to abide by your parenting plan and/or marital settlement agreement.
4. A temporary timesharing hearing is generally held after mediation has occurred. It may be timely to file beforehand to be sure your matter will be timely heard.

Jonathan Jacobs is a same sex divorce lawyer in Orlando Florida, and a relocation attorney Orlando that works tirelessly for his clients to ensure a positive outcome to their family law litigation. Call now for your consultation, 407-335-8113.