When you decide to hire a law firm, a lot of questions follow. What happens next? What documents do you need? How does a divorce case differ from a civil dispute? The path forward isn’t the same in every matter, and knowing what to expect makes it easier to move through the process with confidence.

Our What to Expect video walks you through these steps in our own words.

What Happens After You Sign With Us

Once you sign with us, the next steps depend on whether your matter involves family law or a civil case. That distinction affects how the case gets filed and, in family law matters, what financial information we’ll need from you.

In a divorce or time-sharing modification, we can request mandatory disclosures—“essentially all of your financial records”—along with a completed financial affidavit laying out your financial picture for the court. Civil matters have their own document needs, but the approach is the same: before filing anything, we gather the relevant information and review what’s available. What we need depends on your situation, so this stage is also a chance to talk through anything specific to your case.

Filing the Case and Waiting for a Response

With the necessary information in hand, we file the case. In family law matters, that filing is a petition; in civil cases, it’s a complaint. Either way, there may be motion practice—requests for the judge to decide specific issues—before or after the other side responds.

Discovery, Mediation, and Trial

Once the other side responds, the case moves into discovery. In many matters, the judge refers both sides to mediation, where a neutral third party helps the parties work toward a resolution. If mediation doesn’t resolve things, the case gets set for trial—and we build every case from the start with that possibility in mind.

If you’d like to talk through what this process looks like for your situation, reach out to Canan Law at (904) 849-2266.