Do I need a divorce lawyer in Portland or can I do it myself?

Welcome to the Pro Se edition of “Doing Divorce Differently.”

My name is Steven Leskin. I am a divorce attorney in Portland Oregon. I have been practicing in Oregon since 1992.

There are about 13,000 divorces filed every year in Oregon. According to my own research, 67% of divorces in Oregon do not have an attorney. 20% have one attorney and the balance, about 13% have two attorneys. In those cases, both husband and wife hired a lawyer.

About 30% of cases without an attorney report no assets, no debts, no real estate, no kids. These people can do their divorces themselves. However, the balance runs the risk of giving away more than the law requires or not demanding everything that they are entitled to receive. While there is value in expediency, I would encourage anyone considering filing on their own to review my resources video for a list of suggestions to find legal information at no cost. The Oregon divorce forms are easily available.

Just be aware that a significant amount of my cases originate from Pro Se litigants, self-represented people, who did not understand the State of Oregon forms or the longer-term consequences of their decisions.

My name is Steven Leskin. I am a divorce attorney in Portland. I have been practicing in Oregon since 1992. My law practice developed the One Day Divorce: a hybrid mediation-arbitration process designed to quickly and expediently bring an end to your unhappy marriage.

One Day Divorce. We do divorce differently.