Fourth Edition | Marquis Who’s Who Insight 9 To best serve your client, make sure that you are in the courtroom with the respect of the court. That you not only respect the court, but that the court respects you. accurate. Unfortunately, many people tend to exaggerate and go beyond the point of accuracy and that causes a court to lose confidence in what someone represents. To best serve your client, make sure that you are in the courtroom with the respect of the court. That you not only respect the court, but that the court respects you. What is the most important issue/challenge you are dealing with in your industry? The entire trial technique has changed, so that is something that one has to adapt to. In speaking with many of my colleagues, we have found that at the higher end of the net worth socioeconomic level, divorces are not dramatically increasing. Many of the net worth individuals have more than one residence and the parties don’t necessarily live together under the stress of what the pandemic has created. As we go back to a more normalized type of living and people are confronted again with the problems that they left behind more than a year ago, we are finding that the doorbell is ringing a little more frequently. Conversely, I have noticed on the lower socioeconomic standard of living, in which people are under far greater pressure than those with money and live together under the stresses of the pandemic and a bad marriage, there seems to be a greater frequency of people seeking divorces. What are two key behaviors/personality traits that allow you to be effective in your role? You cannot necessarily treat a case as a straight business deal — you have to understand the psychology of what is going on. We have a way of becoming all things to the client and you have to understand that you cannot just say, “OK, I will take care of it.” The clients have to be more involved and you have to be a little more sensitive to their emotional state. You have to be attuned to their emotional needs and be able to deal with them. How do you feel your industry has changed/evolved? I think it has evolved in several regards. One is the manner in which the client views the attorney, and at one time, the attorney was put up on a pedestal. I do not believe we are on that pedestal any longer. I find that if the client doesn’t get the services they expect, they are very quick to change council. There seems to be much more talk amongst people who are going through divorces than those in the same position or who have already been divorced years ago. Today, people have the benefit of going online and reading about divorces, reading about the law, reading about cases, whether they are online or in the newspaper. There are so many people that have gone through divorces and there are other sources of information out there and people are openly discussing it.
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