Family law associate here to answer questions Forum

[mnolen]

do you ever get extremely impatient with your clients? I get to observe in court quite a bit, and some of the parties are just... awkward. Of course, they're always more tolerant when represented. But I do wonder if they need a lot of hand-holding.

[famlawatty]

do you ever get extremely impatient with your clients? I get to observe in court quite a bit, and some of the parties are just... awkward. Of course, they're always more tolerant when represented. But I do wonder if they need a lot of hand-holding.

Yes you do get some high maintenance clients. You really run into a whole range of personalities and have to be willing to deal with that aspect of the job. The more sophisticated the client tends to be, the less hand holding they want and the more they want to insert their opinion, so in some ways I actually prefer dealing with less sophisticated clients. For example, representing other attorneys can be kind of a pain. I have not yet run into someone who I just absolutely could not deal with, but my firm is pretty proactive about screening clients they think will be really difficult.

[chicoalto0649]

My grandma practices family law. She always tells me to never get into family law. Her biggest complaint is collecting payments from clients. How much of that is an issue for you? It seems like people are more than willing to seek out legal assistance but when the time comes to pony up the $$$ you always get a song and dance....

[A'nold]

PI >>>>> Family law.

[chicoalto0649]

PI >>>>> Family law.

Personal injury? Or public interest?

[mnolen]

My grandma practices family law. She always tells me to never get into family law. Her biggest complaint is collecting payments from clients. How much of that is an issue for you? It seems like people are more than willing to seek out legal assistance but when the time comes to pony up the $$$ you always get a song and dance....

Yeah, it seems like people spend so much time talking about how little money they have (in an effort to get some money from their ex) that the attorneys end up not getting paid until there's a request for attorney fees. Awk.

[jayn3]

Just wanted to pop in and say thanks to the OP! It's refreshing to get insight on something other than biglaw.

+1. Thanks very very much.

Also, do you have any similar insight on the LGBT family law market? Do you work with any LGBT clients?

[famlawatty]

My grandma practices family law. She always tells me to never get into family law. Her biggest complaint is collecting payments from clients. How much of that is an issue for you? It seems like people are more than willing to seek out legal assistance but when the time comes to pony up the $$$ you always get a song and dance....

Well since I'm not in charge of the business end of my firm, it's not an issue for me, but I think that is definitely a big concern that solo practitioners have when dealing with moderate or lower income clients. My firm is geared towards higher income clients so it tends not to be quite as much of an issue.

[famlawatty]

Just wanted to pop in and say thanks to the OP! It's refreshing to get insight on something other than biglaw.

+1. Thanks very very much.

Also, do you have any similar insight on the LGBT family law market? Do you work with any LGBT clients?

I wish I did, I know my firm has had some cases with LGBT clients but I have not yet worked on one and don't have any particular insight to offer.

[A'nold]

PI >>>>> Family law.

Personal injury? Or public interest?

Personal IZinjury of course.

[chicagolaw2013]

PI >>>>> Family law.

Personal injury? Or public interest?

Personal IZinjury of course.

Are you totally gonna be on a commercial? Because you know you have to post it when you're famous so we can all say we know the famous guy.

[lallygag]

Do you have to go to court often? I was a temp at A Family Law Firm once but I couldn't really tell how much time the lawyers spent in court...

[A'nold]

PI >>>>> Family law.

Personal injury? Or public interest?

Personal IZinjury of course.

Are you totally gonna be on a commercial? Because you know you have to post it when you're famous so we can all say we know the famous guy.

Injured? YOU DESERVE $$$$$. Here at A'nold and associates, we work hard to get you the $$$$ you deserve. *American flag flying behind me in a very serious, intimidating pose*

[chicagolaw2013]

Are you totally gonna be on a commercial? Because you know you have to post it when you're famous so we can all say we know the famous guy.

Injured? YOU DESERVE $$$$$. Here at A'nold and associates, we work hard to get you the $$$$ you deserve. *American flag flying behind me in a very serious, intimidating pose*

You know you better send me a copy.

[famlawatty]

Do you have to go to court often? I was a temp at a family law firm once but I couldn't really tell how much time the lawyers spent in court...

At my firm attorneys are in court maybe 2-5 times a month. Some practices are high volume and attorneys are in court way more often.

[legallyblonde27]

Did you study a litigation track in law school (since there are probably not many schools with a family law specialization)?

How many hours a week would you say you work altogether?

Thanks!

[pjo]

hey thanks for answering questions. It's great to get some real world advice on these boards. I know you mentioned that the recent grads who will be in trouble will be those with quite a bit of debt coming out of school. On the other hand I also saw you went to a T20. Just wondering what you think concerning debt+higher ranked school (T25) vs. no debt + lower ranked school (think 50-70 in USNEWS, strong regional school). In your opinion, would taking on 150k in debt to attend a top school be worth giving up close to a full ride at a lower ranked school (50-70)? How about going into 90k debt to attend a mid ranked school (like UNC)?

[Mr. Costello]

OP, thanks for the info. TAG.

[chicagolaw2013]

Did you study a litigation track in law school (since there are probably not many schools with a family law specialization)?

How many hours a week would you say you work altogether?

Thanks!

Curious about this as well. My school does have a fam law certificate track, which is cool, but are there any litigation classes you found particularly helpful?

[A'nold]

Are you totally gonna be on a commercial? Because you know you have to post it when you're famous so we can all say we know the famous guy.

Injured? YOU DESERVE $$$$$. Here at A'nold and associates, we work hard to get you the $$$$ you deserve. *American flag flying behind me in a very serious, intimidating pose*

You know you better send me a copy.

Fo sho!

[mnolen]

How much time do you spend on divorce/property stuff v. child custody/visitation stuff v. dependency stuff?

[VA LawDog]

OP: I just wanted to echo everyone's thanks. Fantastic real-world information.

[famlawatty]

Re: what law school classes to take, the one that has been most helpful for me hands down is evidence. I also took community property but that's not very hard to learn on the job. Wills and trusts has overlap with family law and is a useful class to take. I didn't take Tax but I think that would also be useful.

Hours a week... I would say usually less than 50 hrs. Minimum of 45. 55 would be a heavy week.

Just wondering what you think concerning debt+higher ranked school (T25) vs. no debt + lower ranked school (think 50-70 in USNEWS, strong regional school). In your opinion, would taking on 150k in debt to attend a top school be worth giving up close to a full ride at a lower ranked school (50-70)? How about going into 90k debt to attend a mid ranked school (like UNC)?

It depends what you want to do, of course, but I can't think of too many circumstances where I would advise someone to take on 150k to go to a T25 over attending a strong regional T1 or T2 school with no debt. I probably wouldn't advise going down to the third tier to avoid debt. I think it becomes much much harder to get a job then. I got some scholarships at my school so I have about 80k in debt, and I don't think I could comfortably manage a higher debt on my salary. There is no way I could pay off the standard 150k. 90k for a mid ranked school... I think it's not too bad. I would try to keep debt under 100k no matter what.

How much time do you spend on divorce/property stuff v. child custody/visitation stuff v. dependency stuff?

I don't do any dependency work at all. I would say it's like 60/40 property issues vs. child custody and visitation.

[katie96]

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