It’s a battle over children and billions of dollars. Rupert Murdoch’s soon-to-be ex-wife, Wendi, just hired a new divorce attorney (her second). Alan Plevy, Co-founding Principal of SmolenPlevy in Vienna, VA, notes that he regularly has clients come to him after first starting off with another attorney. “They may be looking for some ooomph,” says Plevy. “We make it clear to them that we may be able to settle, but if we need to, we don’t have any problem taking their case to court.”
Plevy explains that switching attorneys mid-case isn’t unusual. If a party is dissatisfied with the representation they’re receiving, if they feel their attorney isn’t aggressive enough or doesn’t understand them, or if they just think someone else can do a better job, it’s perfectly acceptable for them to seek different counsel. Perhaps Wendi Murdoch felt that her former attorney didn’t have what it takes to go up against the man ranked 90th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. After all, she and her two children have become accustomed to a very comfortable lifestyle. There’s a lot at stake in any divorce and divorces can take a long time, so finding the best fit is important.
“Usually it’s best to make the decision that you and your current attorney are not a good fit early in the process and move on,” Plevy says. “We occasionally meet with people who have gone to a first or even a second attorney before we end up taking over the case.” It is generally better to have the same attorney from the beginning to the end of the divorce process because it saves the client the time and money involved in bringing another attorney up to date on what has happened, however sometimes, that is not possible.
