Sure.
 
     There's also no requirement that you use a dentist when you have a tooth pulled.  What the heck, a few stiff belts of whiskey, a friend with a steady hand, and a pair of pliers will do.

       Not for me, thank you, but if you want to do it, you can.

       Couples often hope to save a few dollars by doing without a lawyer when they agree on everything.  After all, they simply have to prepare some papers and get a judge to sign them.  Right?  No reason to pay a lawyer to do that.

       Gee, when you buy a house and you and the seller agree to everything, you don't really need a lawyer then, either.  Or if you're charged with a murder and you just want to tell the prosecuting attorney what really happened and work out a plea agreement.  Don't need a lawyer then, either.  Right?

        If you and your spouse in fact agree to everything, the legal fees will be relatively small.  But the consequences of doing it wrong are huge.  (If you two can't agree to everything, and your spouse has an attorney, then going ahead without a lawyer means you are going to be in court by yourself, essentially trying to fight a shark barehanded.  Generally you will simply end up being ripped to shreds, and if the lawyer is really good, you will never even know it.)

        Try it yourself without a lawyer and you could end up still being married.  You could fail to address serious tax issues.  You could end up with no real enforceable visitation rights to your children.  If your spouse goes bankrupt right after the divorce, you could still end up stuck with all of the marital debts he or she agreed to take in the divorce and no way to ever collect from him or her.

        You  could end up with everything taking twice as long as needed.

        Divorce involves several complicated legal issues.

        Can you do it without a lawyer?  Sure.  But please don't call me afterwards to try to clean up the mess.  And don't bother calling me or e-mailing me to ask for advice on how to do it.  I think trying to handle your own divorce without an attorney is a mistake and that if I were to try to help you to do it I would be inviting a lawsuit for malpractice.

        Despite all of this, if you insist on drinking your own poison, you can go to the Nolo Press web site on keeping lawyers out of divorce by clicking here.  But keep in mind that while I have not reviewed the site at all, I have reviewed other Nolo Press web pages, and have found legal advice that is so deficient that any lawyer contributing should be embarrassed.  (Specifically I refer to the advice you see by clicking here in which Nolo Press addresses filing suit for domestic violence, and fails to mention that there is now a Federal civil rights cause of action for domestic violence.  There has been since part of the 1994 Crime Bill  included provisions on gender motivated violence, you can see my own explanation of how the bill works by clicking here.  Failing to mention this, and to suggest that in some states a domestic violence victim might not even be able to file suit, is a glaring omission.  But if you want to trust these folks for advice on a "do it yourself" divorce, go right ahead.  Just be forewarned.)  Several office supply stores also offer do-it-yourself kits of forms to use for divorce, though I have likewise looked at none of them to determine whether any would work in Tennessee, or to see what you might need to do to make them work.

        Now, all of that aside, there are ways to severely reduce the role, and cost of an attorney.
                1) Review only:  You can prepare documents and have an attorney review them only.  You would be your own attorney in the case, but you would have an attorney make sure everything was done right so you could actually end up divorced.
                2) Mediation: Or you can have a mediated divorce (click here for more on Tennessee's mediation procedures, and click here for more on the concept of mediated divorce in general), again with an attorney simply reviewing documents to make certain everything is done properly, and with attorney's fees very low as a result.
                3) Unbundled legal services: If a lawyer handles your case as "attorney of record", he or she is responsible for everything, and has to closely watch over the entire case, holding onto the file later and often being called on to follow up for years to come, but there are other ways to do use an attorney, reducing the lawyer's involvement in the case to specific responsibilities.  Some of the specific responsibilites might include the following:

        A) Review only.  An attorney reviews paperwork you prepare, making sure all legal requirements for a divorce are met.
        B) Ghostwriting.  You tell the lawyer generally what you want and have the attorney draft the court papers or correspondence, but for your own signature with you acting as your own attorney.
        C) Consultation.  You talk with an attorney to look at documents your spouse's attorney is preparing and ask if a proposed agreement is reasonable, or if you should do anything further to prepare for trial or for entry of a final decree of divorce without a full trial at a contested hearing.
        D) Court appearances.  You do everything yourself up until the time of trial or the hearing of a particular motion and ask an attorney to come to court on the day of trial or the motion only, without any more preparation than talking with you for an hour or so.  Until the day of trial the attorney makes no formal appearance in the case and has no responsibility toward the case and the attorney makes clear to the Court and the other side that after the trial or hearing he or she has no further responsibility toward the case.
        E) Coaching.  Or you can pay an attorney for a few hours of time to give you some pointers on how to represent yourself in the courtroom at trial, essentially serving as a coach.  (For more information on unbundled legal service, click here.)
        F) Advice.  You can handle all aspects of the case and simply pay for advice at scheduled times in the attorney's office, whether purchased at an initial consultation or throughout the case as determined by the client with the input from the lawyer. The lawyer and client collaborate in helping the client decide if and when further consultations may be needed.
        G) Research.  You handle everything else but have an attorney or his paralegal research specific points or answer specific legal questions for you, perhaps providing copies of court decisions or of statutes to you.  Research may take 15 minutes or 10 hours. The client is in charge of determining the scope of the job and who will do the work - lawyer, client or a negotiated collaborative effort.
        H) Mediation assistance.  The lawyer prepares client for mediation, monitors ist progress, or even attends mediation sessions to offer advice and emotional support.
 
       But do remember that many attorneys are uncomfortable with this approach and will insist on either handling the entire case from start to finish or having nothing to do with your case.  And also remember that the attorneys who will unbundle their legal services have a very limited responsibility toward you and your case.  If you have retained an attorney and the attorney has entered an appearance in the case, the attorney is responsible for the case, must be present for any hearings, must be available for you when you have questions, and can get a case set (or re-set) to match his or her schedule... but if the attorney is not retained and is offering only "unbundled services" the attorney may not be available when you need him or her, and there is little you can do about it.

       When I represent a client in a divorce, or in any other case, I make clear I do not want them even talking with the other side unless I am present or I approve the conversation first.  There is a reason for this -- if I represent them as their attorney, I am responsible for everything that happens in the case and can be blamed for anything that goes wrong.  In these cases I tell my clients that they do not even represent themselves -- I represent them (though certainly they are the only one to decide whether to settle a case or to propose a settlement).  But if I am not fully representing a party and they are in fact representing themselves, I'm very happy to have them negotiate the terms of their divorce without my presence, involvement or even my knowledge.

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                                               Disclosure on Non-Representation Link
                                               Disclosures on Certification of Specialization Link