About the Author

Diana Shepherd, CDFA®

Diana Shepherd has over 30 years of experience as a marketing, branding, SEO, copywriting, editing, and publishing expert. As Content Director for Family Lawyer Magazine, Divorce Magazine, and Divorce Marketing Group, she oversees all corporate content development and frequently creates SEO-friendly videos, podcasts, and copy for family law and financial firms. The Co-Founder of Divorce Magazine and Divorce Marketing Group, Diana is an award-winning editor, published author, and a nationally recognized expert on divorce, remarriage, finance, and stepfamily issues. She has written hundreds of articles geared towards both family law professionals and divorcing people, and she has both performed and taught on-page SEO for 20+ years. Diana spent eight years as the Marketing Director for the Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts® (IDFA®), and she has been a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® since 2006. While at IDFA, she wrote, designed, and published The IDFA Marketing Guide, and she also created seminars for CDFA professionals to present to family lawyers (approved for CLE), as well as to separated and divorcing individuals. She has represented both DMG and IDFA at industry conferences and events across North America, and she has given marketing as well as divorce financial seminars at many of those conferences.

17 Comments

  1. 1
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    Ofelia

    Mr. Robinson your article came at a very poignant time of my life. After retiring from a wonderful and rewarding career with the federal courts, I decided to open my own office and assist undocumented immigrants pro bono. Then Trump happened and there has been very little I can do to “win” cases for immigrants. Immigration law changes from one day to the next. It has been very disheartening to say the least. I was seriously considering closing my practice. After reading you article, I may hang in there a little longer. If I am objective, the past six years have not been so bad. You are correct. We tend to focus more on our “losses” than on how well we have done the job for our clients. At 67, I feel I can touch so many more lives. Thank you.

    Reply
    1. 1.1
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      Jimbo

      Undocumented immigrants? Real immigrants have documents, illegal non resident aliens don’t.

      Reply
  2. 2
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    Gray Robinson

    Thank you Ofelia!

    Reply
  3. 3
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    Merritt

    Thank you, I have continued practicing through cancer and injury. I just feel it is getting to be time to find something less stressful.
    I applaud those who are able to keep bouncing back and serving with character and honor.

    Reply
  4. 4
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    Jeff Scheiner

    I like and feel your pain and understand completely. Fortunately for me, I have been a California licensed attorney for 27 years where I taught thousands of law school grads how to take and pass the MBE component of their respective bar exams. This was an insurmountable and fulfilling way to avoid going to court and dealing with clients etc. I have taught in over 88 law schools across the country and now find myself unable to do what I have been so grateful and respected. It’s all internet preparation now! These law grads today can’t sit through a 3 or 6 hour lecture. It’s bewildering and I consult with Bay Area law school deans etc and explain this simple reason for why pass rates are so low and morale non existent- I now draft wills and trusts in Sonoma county and struggle with competition from do it yourself outfits! It’s time to review life I think. Maybe move to Florida and get a horse farm in Wellington. Maybe just be a bum and go fishing every day and contemplate how nice it is to be away from the law altogether? Any ideas or strategies are welcome- I just remind myself to breathe deep and be happy for my family. Wisdom is always appreciated- cheers

    Reply
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    Robert

    After 34 years of successful practice it seems to me that we general trial lawyers, at least those of us that have gained vast knowledge from having tried so many different types of cases in which we had to acquire specific knowledge of the subject matters in order to be able try each case, have become relics. One of the first questions I am frequently asked is ” What is my specialty”? I hate that question. I don’t have specialty, other than a meticulous knowledge of evidence law that gives me a frequent courtroom advantage. I can try almost any type of civil matter, so where’s the specialization there? I got fed up, litigants are not interested in ideals, only in “outcomes”. Judges are younger than me and often ask me to “educate” them on technical points. Then you lose a winnable case and don’t sleep for days wondering what you could have done differently. I decided to quit. 34 years was long enough for a person to do only one thing. I wanted something else for the “next” part of my life. It took me two years to extricate myself from my practice and from my cases and clients. Now I can deal with own life problems and emotions instead of those of the clients that paid me to deal with theirs.
    P.S. I haven’t looked back and I’m fine!

    Reply
  6. 6
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    Sara

    Please is there anyone who can help me? I am in Arkansas and my kids need help! Please… I don’t have the money to hire a lawyer and their father is a bad man with a really “good” lawyer. blesstheeverything@gmail.com

    Reply
    1. 6.1
      Martha Chan

      Martha Chan

      I would suggest that you contact the bar association in Arkansas to see if they can suggest any legal aids and lawyers who would do pro bono cases.

      Reply
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    Joe

    … the reason you couldn’t win any more immigration cases was not because of Trump making it harder for you, but because Obama made it easy for you 🤨

    … by the way even with Trump in office immigration attorneys are winning cases so I don’t know why you say that you couldn’t win any more.

    Reply
    1. 7.1
      Diana Shepherd, CDFA

      Diana Shepherd

      Hi Joe.
      Are you an immigration attorney, or do you perhaps work for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? I am curious about how you know that immigration attorneys are still winning cases — I’d be very interested in reading an unbiased document showing the number of would-be immigrants who applied and the number who were accepted over the last 10-20 years. Without actual facts, there’s no possibility (slight as it may be!) that pro-immigration and anti-immigration U.S. citizens will ever be able to find some common ground — and there’s certainly no possibility of one side convincing the other. So do let me know where you’re getting your facts — this could make an interesting article for Family Lawyer Magazine!

      Reply
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    Luis

    This is one very depressing post. Sorry, you feel that way. According to your theory of why you are quitting I would say I hope medical Drs don’t feel this way… Seriously? You think you are not good enough? Focusing on the losses….???? Come one 🤔

    Reply
  9. 9
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    Emmanuel ugwu

    Please I need help for a good family lawyer in texas. My wife and her parents tried to destroy my life they took all I have including out two children after my wife falsely claimed that l stab her with a screw driver and got me arrested. I became homeless after the case ended. I got a job and try to rebuild my life she went and file for child support what should I do?

    Thanks
    Emmanuel

    Reply
    1. 9.1
      Diana Shepherd, CDFA

      Diana Shepherd

      Hi Emmanuel.

      I’m sorry to hear that you have had such a tough divorce. Sometimes, separated or divorced people want to punish their ex-spouse without considering that they are punishing their children at the same time.

      I suggest you check with the State Bar of Texas (https://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Public_Home), or with your local city Bar Association to see what help they can offer you. Some lawyers will do pro bono (free) work for deserving clients, and others offer sliding fee scales for financially disadvantaged clients.

      There’s also a Professional Directory on Divorce Magazine (https://www.divorcemag.com/directory/) where you can search for lawyers near you, and numerous articles, videos, and podcasts that could provide some helpful information for you.

      I hope you find the help you need, Emmanuel.

      Reply
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    Joe

    Lawyers quit because they are lazy and work for the judges and treat every case the same. They are interested in making money and when they make enough they quit. Some don’t make enough money. Stop working for the judges and change the paperwork required. Get cases that don’t belong in the court system out. Use common sense, don’t hide behind the law. Stop suspending licenses and fix the system. It is a mess of a system.

    Reply
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    Cheryl Martone

    Please, stop defending illegals because they should not be here!!! Illegal is illegal and should not be here!!!

    Reply
  12. 12
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    Tom Willoughby

    Amen Jimbo. Robinson mentioned “losing the unwinnable”. What part of illegal is confusing?

    Reply
  13. 13
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    Dick Kraske

    Being the victim in a personal injury case I was eventually awarded one third of the settlement where the lawyer was awarded 40% plus unbundled expenses. It was a slam dunk case that was litigated by going through the motions without any special effort. I have served on juries, been sued, have sued and have testified in major criminal cases. The defendant blatantly outright lied and my lawyer provided minimal effort, if any, to disprove it. Instead he hired an “expert” that added to the defendant’s deception that the evidence that I had submitted must have been something else discrediting me on the premise that I must have “misremembered(another legal weasel word) the details of being injured The case never went to court however the lawyer got an extra $5000 just for filing.(Read the small print). Filing doesn’t mean actually having to go to court, like paying for the admission and never showing up for the performance. This case was one of the most egregious disgusting examples of substituting morality, honesty and integrity for whatever works. It is an indictment against the legal profession or whatever it calls itself.

    Reply

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