Why would anyone choose to become a divorce lawyer?
That is a great question.
Most lawyers who have tried being divorce and family lawyers hate it and abandon it for other practice areas.
I can tell you why I chose to be a divorce and family lawyer:
- it’s one of the few practice areas where I can provide value for the fees I charge for the work I do. Not every divorce attorney provides value for the money (Lord knows), but for attorneys who are honest, decent people, it’s easier to provide a good value as a divorce attorney than it is in any other practice area I’ve tried. Fighting for your kids is worth it! Divorce and family law practice is very hard work (there are much easier ways to make good money as a lawyer), but I don’t feel like a thief doing the work. If there’s a better way to provide value for the money than as a decent, honest divorce attorney, I’d love to know (I really would) what it is.
- I have a talent for divorce and family law practice, and I am wired to handle what drives other attorney’s mad about divorce and family law practice.
Why I don’t like general civil litigation: When people ask me why I chose to be a divorce attorney I tell them the story of how people would come to me with problems like this: “X charged me $20,000 for _________, but _________ is defective, so how much would it cost me to sue X for this?” And I would tell them, “It’ll cost you about $20,000 to sue X, and even if you win AND collect the judgment (which is hardly guaranteed), then all you would do is break even. And collecting the judgment will usually cost you several thousand dollars more in attorney’s fees to find and obtain the money.”
Why I don’t like criminal defense: I found criminal defense work to be too discouraging because A) I don’t like defending guilty people; and B) I don’t like seeing innocent people get railroaded by the system (it happens more than I’d believed possible).
Why I don’t like criminal prosecution: Far, far too often it’s about getting a conviction, not getting to the truth.
Why I don’t like bankruptcy law: See why I don’t like criminal defense work.
Why I don’t like personal injury plaintiff’s work: Personal injury practice is cynically opportunistic and, in my opinion, is largely wealth confiscation masquerading as legal activity. Why I don’t like personal injury defense: It is, in my opinion, too often a game of trying to ensure that deserving people get little to nothing.
Why I don’t like collection work: See why I don’t like personal injury work.
Why I don’t like transactional legal work (things like writing contracts and estate planning documents): I thought that’s what I’d end up doing as a lawyer when I started law school, but when I participated in mock trials (which I did just to see what it was like), I found to my surprise that I liked it, and liked it a lot more than transactional legal work. I find the transactional work too boring to keep me engaged personally. We need good transactional lawyers, but it’s not work I’m best suited for myself.
Utah Family Law, LC | divorceutah.com | 801-466-9277
https://www.quora.com/Why-would-anyone-choose-to-become-a-divorce-lawyer
Tags: divorce attorney, divorce lawyer, law school