Is family law the most stressful and frustrating practice are for lawyers?
I am a new attorney who has been practicing about six months now. I do primarily family law cases, and it seems like whatever I get for my clients they’re still not happy. They expect me to get them every single things they want no matter how unreasonable. Any other family law attorneys experienced this?
My clients don’t pay me. I work for legal aid.
2 Responses
go_dawgsj
12 Feb 2010
Michelle S
12 Feb 2010
Think about this. Who is ever happy to be in any situation where lawyers have to get involved. Weather it’s family law, criminal law, personal injury, or even corporate.
In family law people are dealing with divorces and child custody. Even if they win they still just went through a traumatic ordeal. Have a little compassion and be glad you make $200 an hour.
I practice family law.
Family law is a thankless job. Emotions are higher in family law than in any other type of law. People’s families are being ripped apart, they aren’t going to be able to see their children every day, their standard of living is going down, etc. All of these things make family law clients crazy. Seriously. They are angry, scared, and confused, and because of this they often have a hard time thinking straight.
They also have very unreasonable expectations. Stay at home moms want to be able to continue staying at home (ha! Not going to happen!) A woman who has been married for a whopping two years wants alimony. A dad who travels all of the time for work and isn’t an involved dad wants 50/50 physical custody. What clients don’t understand is that their definition of "fair" isn’t necessarily how it works in the legal world.
Clients also don’t understand why the court system takes so long. I have clients constantly bitch at me because the other party hasn’t responded to discovery requests. They don’t understand that all I can do is file a motion to compel, and that takes time. Clients blame me when the earliest available court date is in two months. Family law attorneys are constantly blamed by their clients for things that are completely out of control.
Clients get angry about the process or the realities of divorce, and the most convenient scapegoat is their divorce attorney.
All of this said, I love practicing family law. Many attorneys won’t get anywhere near a family law case. So it just takes a certain personality.
You have to be able to be fulfilled with your job without any positive feedback from your clients. You have to listen to them complain and even blame and accuse you, and then just let it roll off your back and chalk it up to all of the emotions they are going through. I’m able to do this, so I’m able to enjoy my job. I love hearing people’s stories. There’s always new and crazy things happening in people’s lives, so I never get bored. It’s a strange job where you sort through every aspect of a family’s personal life – finances, sex life, health, etc. I just find all of this very interesting, which is why I like the job.