What Do Family Lawyers Do on a Daily Basis?
The Daily Business of Family Attorneys
The job of family attorneys is a very challenging one. They handle cases from divorces to abuse protection on a daily basis. While it can be very rewarding after the case closes, handling things like mutual power plays can be very difficult.
One attorney with Raphael Ramsden & Behers in Pittsburgh stated that there is no typical day or task for a family attorney. There’s always something going on with a client such as an account hacking to missed custody-related depositions. As a result, a typical day for a family lawyer is spent doing everything from returning phone calls to preparing for court hearings. Court hearings can last anywhere between ten minutes to several days. So almost, needless to say, family attorneys are very busy people.
Family Law Practice
Family Law practice is currently a very popular one for several reasons. More people than ever are divorcing, child adoption laws have become more liberalized over the past couple of decades, and the forensics of paternity have become more accurate within the last decade.
Those aspiring to go into Family Law must be prepared to work over 40 hours a week. The job involves constant interruptions, unexpected and new challenges, and being called into work at weird hours. Especially large firms may require extra hours of research, preparation, and review. Most family attorneys are typically in their offices at or by 9:00 am and get off between 6:00 pm-8:00 pm, depending on their daily workload. They sometimes have to attend seminars or other social events within the firm, which also keeps them at the office later.
Why Family Attorney spend time interviewing Clients?
Family law attorneys also spend much of their time interviewing clients. For ongoing cases especially, it is the attorney’s job to help their clients figure out what their next moves will be as well as discussions of each hearing.
Like most other attorneys, family attorneys work as a team. It is typical of them to correspond with experts outside of their field and swap discussions of cases with colleagues.
Again, the job of a family attorney is very challenging but also rewarding. They don’t really have typical days and new issues with clients can show up at literally any second. Family life can be very stable or very chaotic depending on how much everyone cooperates and how much everyone keeps their end of the bargain. The job of mitigating family conflicts is often a very challenging one but rewarding once it is resolved for good and the case is able to close.