Divorce- Choosing My Clients

Hello. It has been a while since I had some time to contribute to my blog. Business has been extremely strong and it has become increasingly difficult to devote the necessary time to sharing my thoughts and experiences with you. However, I had an interesting conversation with a friend over the weekend. He is divorced (several years in the past, and no, I did not represent him) and was asking me how often I get to represent someone about whose case I feel strongly or passionately about. I chuckled, and told him his question seems to presuppose that I am either ambivalent or hostile to my clients. I started to give some thought to how and why I choose to represent certain divorce and custody clients, and not others.

In reality, while I do not always agree with the course of action taken by my client, generally speaking, once I decide to accept an individual as a client of my firm, I invest a great deal of intellectual and emotional capital on the client. If I do not “believe” in their point of view, my advocacy suffers.

While I am seasoned enough to know that getting overly attached to a client’s cause can cloud perception and make appropriate counsel difficult, I do not adhere to the school of thought that requires that I remain emotionally distant from my clients. I will continue to pick my client’s carefully and to try to truly understand their needs and motivations. I believe this makes me a better lawyer; one worth hiring.