Family lawyers reflect on making a difference by achieving a healthy work-life balance, fighting for human rights and helping save the environment.
Grier Raggio is a founding partner of leading Texas family law firm Raggio Family Law. He has been selected to the list of Texas Super Lawyers, and was a Democratic candidate in the 2010 election for the United States House of Representatives seat in Texas’s 32nd congressional district.
How did you get started as a family lawyer?
In the 1960s I decided that environmental issues were going to be the most important thing for me for the remainder of my life, and so I began doing environmental law when I started a firm in New York in 1971. At the time, I was also making a living by doing the plaintiff’s personal injury stuff, which was very lucrative. It was in 1980, with the rejection of Jimmy Carter and the solar panels on the White House, that I decided to quit bumping my head against that wall for a while.
What was your motivation to run for office in 2010, and is there a connection between practicing family law and being a politician?
There’s a public service component in both of them. You want to do something that makes a difference, you want to make an impact, and you want to make an impression to make things better for people.
I decided in 2009 that it was time for me to take a shot at trying to do something on the political field. My campaign was based on this concept that we, the federal government, are spending a buck fifty for every buck we take in. Whether Democrat or Republican, the issue right now is that spending and income aren’t in line.
Tell us a little about your current thoughts regarding the environment?
We’ve been consuming too much for a long time, particularly through burning hydrocarbons, and this has done bad things to the natural system and to the planet. I tell people that Mother Nature will solve the problem. Mother Nature spanks civilizations, and we’re in the spanking phase – but she also kills them. I think we’re in real danger of jeopardizing everyone’s future if we continue with this excess consumption.
Are there any signs of progress when it comes to the environment?
Well, I think that people are aware that there’s a massive scientific consensus that human activity is changing climate in ways that are dangerous to all of us. But doing the hard things to try to slow and reverse it right now is politically unfeasible. As I’ve proposed many times, what we need is a large carbon tax. We need to use the market to get people to burn less hydrocarbons by making gasoline, coal, and natural gas much more expensive to reflect their actual cost. Unfortunately, humans are not wired to look long term at subtle threats but instead are focused on the present, and “what is it going to cost me now”.
For more information on Grier Raggio and his firm visit: www.raggiolaw.com
Read or listen to the full version of this interview:
Grier Raggio: Family Law, Politics, and Saving the Planet
https://familylawyermagazine.com//articles/family-law-politics-and-saving-the-planet
Barbara Handschu is special counsel at leading New York family law firm Dobrish Michaels Gross, LLP, and recognized as a leader in her field. Barbara was the National President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and has been named by Woodward-White as one of the Best Lawyers in America.
Can you tell us about your driving vision as a family lawyer, and about some of your early, seminal experiences in the field?
My early days in private practice were focused on criminal defense, because that’s what was going on. I had been handling a few divorces, calling all my friends and asking them how to do this and that early on in my practice. Then came 1971 and the Attica Prison rebellion. I went up to Buffalo for what I thought was going to be a week to handle the Attica cases, because they needed legal help. I was active in the National Lawyers Guild and volunteers were given the things that were going on at the Attica Prison after the rebellion in September of 1971. And that one week turned into 35 years or so.
Tell us a little bit about your other political activities, or other activities that involve change.
In terms of my activism, there’s a lawsuit in New York that’s called Handschu against Bureau of Special Services. It’s a class action against the New York City Police Department, and it’s the longest-running federal case in any District Court. It’s 42 years old, and I have the honor of having five lawyers who have represented me and our class for 42 years, and all of it pro bono.
Is there any chance of a conclusion to this case in the near future?
This case may go on forever and ever. It’s a very important case that has to do with whether or not the police department can single out groups or individuals and conduct surveillance on them. Most recently we filed a motion challenging the surveillance of Muslims. Over the years, what has evolved is something called the Handschu Authority.
Are there any other examples of cases where you pushed for basic human rights?
When I was up in Buffalo, the County of Niagara passed an ordinance that would have required women to look at pictures of dead fetuses before they could have an abortion. I challenged this at the Niagara County legislature, and said to them: “You know, you can’t do this. This is something for the state to regulate. If you try to move ahead with this, I’m going to sue you, and if I win I’m giving my money to causes that help women’s rights, and gay rights.”
Well, they didn’t believe me and I ended up filing a case called Susan B. This was back in the late 1970s, when there had only been one other similar ordinance in Akron, Ohio. The case went up to the US Supreme Court, but it was never argued. We won all the way through. I really felt it made a difference. It protected women in New York State, and it was the right thing to do. Today a woman’s right to control her body continues to be at risk, I am sorry to say.
For more information on Barbara Handschu and her firm visit: www.dobrishlaw.com
Read or listen to the full version of this interview:
Barbara Handschu: A Journey in Helping Others
https://familylawyermagazine.com//articles/a-journey-in-helping-others
David Lee is a partner at leading Massachusetts family law firm Lee Rivers & Corr LLP, and is recognized locally and nationally as a preeminent family law practitioner. David is a past president of the Massachusetts Chapter of AAML, and has been consistently recognized by Naifeh and Smith’s The Best Lawyers in America.
You started practicing at a time when family law was very different from what it is today. What were things like back then?
When I began to practice in this area of law, it wasn’t terribly intellectually focused. Its principal focus was who could out-threaten, out-yell and out-intimidate the other side. I decided that wasn’t really the style that I wanted to have. Rather, I wanted to learn about this area of law and bring it to a new dimension; one where it could be thought of with higher regard.
How did you resist the acrimonious way of handling divorce? Or did you have to play that game as well when you started?
Well, I had to show two things. First, I had to show that I was thoughtful, and second I had to show that I was capable of playing a bit of that game, if necessary.
How do you separate your work life from your personal life?
I try to do the best I can by recognizing the responsibility I have to my clients, and likewise, recognizing the responsibility I have to my family and to myself. If someone were grading me, I’m not sure that they would give me an A+ in how I do that. I have a very busy practice and I’m often in my office. It’s also rare when I don’t work at home, whether preparing for court, reviewing a file for a meeting, or reading new case decisions or some family law publications.
At the same time, I’m an avid sportsman. I like to travel, and my wife and I have a daughter, son-in-law and three wonderful grandchildren who live not far from us. We also have a wonderful son out in California who I get to see every now and then.
I’m an avid golfer and enjoy it. The thing that I like about golfing, what hooked me was that I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t really be good at it right away; I thought I was a very good athlete. So I’ve been always striving to get better at that. It’s similar to my approach to my law practice.
I also attend the American Academy and the International Academy meetings, and they’re a way of getting out and around as well. I’ve found that I’m getting better at not thinking about work when I’m away – especially compared to when I was developing my practice in the earlier years.
For more information on David Lee and his firm visit: www.leeriversandcorr.com
Read or listen to the full version of this interview:
David Lee: Pursuing Excellence in Everything
https://familylawyermagazine.com//articles/pursing-excellence-in-everything
Mike McCurley is a senior partner at leading Texas family law firm McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing. Mike has earned recognition on every Texas Super Lawyers listing since 2003, including the Top 100 Lawyers in Texas, and Best Lawyers in America.
How do you help your clients, and yourself, deal with the emotional stress caused by divorce?
Well, you have to strike a path of proper balance. Of course, you have to maintain professional distance to a certain degree, but at the same time if you pull back too far you then lose empathy for your client. You must maintain a balance at all times. I’ve done a number of things to try to improve my own abilities, such as ongoing CLEs and coaching, as well as studying psychology and psychiatry to better help me understand how the brain works.
How did you decide that you wanted to start a family law firm, and do you have any suggestions for others who want to do the same thing?
My goal was to set about building and maintaining the most proficient and efficient firm that I could. As far as others starting their firm, I would encourage them to concentrate on where they want to be. Also, they should never hire people who they’re unwilling to be partners with.
Tell us your thoughts about achieving a work-life balance?
I am by nature a self-driven individual, and so is Mary Johanna, my partner and wife. Left to my own devices I work way, way too much. And so we take time off and we use travel to take us away from work. We have a home that we go to. It’s a good sort of short term resting place. We also sit down each quarter and plan what we want to do in our business and personal life. We do the same thing at our firm. Aside from our regular monthly meetings we have a year-end meeting where we discuss goals for the future.
As far as goals for the future, what do think lies ahead?
I have become selective in everything that I do, and am not yet in the process of my retirement. I can’t think of retirement, because it’s a step toward death. My grandfather lived until he was 105. And while I am not ready to start facing that possibility, I think in my mind the wiser thing is that I continue this state of transition rather than retirement. My life is on track now as far as I’m concerned, and how I would want to move past this depends on where my law practice goes. The prospect of change in the area of family law and where we might be headed next really excites me. All I want to do is to stay on the cutting edge all of the time.
For more information on Mike McCurley and his firm visit: www.momnd.com
Read or listen to the full version of this interview:
Mike McCurley: Creating and Managing Long-Term Goals
https://familylawyermagazine.com//articles/creating-and-managing-long-term-goals
__________________________________________________________________________
Published on:
