Since you will need to respond to your divorcing client’s needs as best you can, here are some helpful tips. Be a better a lawyer right from the start.
By Allison Pescosolido & Andra Brosh
Family law attorneys are usually a divorcing individual’s first call, which puts you on the frontline of support when a marriage dissolves. Most individuals don’t realize that they need emotional and psychological support as urgently as they need legal counsel so you may find yourself in the position of offering support that is outside of your education and training. Since you will need to respond to your client’s needs as best you can, here are some helpful tips from Divorce Detox™:
1. The first visit.
Most of our clients report their first visit to a lawyer’s office as being “a blur.” Divorce causes a great deal of distress and creates a high state of anxiety in many divorcing individuals. The stress of divorce puts the brain on high alert, and causes normal brain functioning to slow making it hard to take in information and to remember details. Knowing that many of your clients walk into your office in this state of mind will remind you to speak slowly, to provide small doses of information, and to encourage any questions in the first few appointments.
2. Unique Experience.
It is helpful to remember that even though you see many divorce cases a year, each person has their own experience of divorce. Divorcing individuals feel like they are the only person in the world going through divorce, and that no one has it as bad as they do. They only know their own story so treat them as the unique individual that they are.
3. Listen to their story.
Greater compassion and understanding on your part will lead to your clients feeling safe and supported by you. Believe it or not, it is these kinds of compassion and understanding that will make someone choose one lawyer over another. While it is not your job to be their therapist, your clients will be more productive and amiable if they feel heard and understood on even the smallest level. Simply acknowledging how hard divorce can be can help them.
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The Divorce Detox™ Founders are frequently featured in the media for their expertise on the subject of divorce, and their unique treatment approach for divorce recovery. Divorce Detox™ Survival Kit provides easy, online support to manage the daily hurdles of divorce, promote healthy Excommunication, reduce divorce expenditures, Improve judgment and decision making, shorten the divorce process, rebuild self-trust, stay on track through the divorce process and prevent unnecessary pain and suffering.
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