Tonight’s post about our family law calling was written by our Marietta divorce attorney, Alyssa Blanchard.
I went to a seminar last year and attended a break-out session on litigation. The speaker gave us a lot of great tips on preparing a case for litigation. He also spoke to us about maintaining a work life balance. Somewhere in the middle of the session he made what he considered a funny “joke” about family law attorneys and our supposed 9-5 work schedule. Needless to say, that didn’t sit all too well with me.
Whenever I’m working late at the office during the week or coming into the office on the weekend, I’m reminded of that joke. Now don’t get me wrong, some attorneys may check out at 5:00 p.m. and that’s perfectly fine. Bravo to their work life balance. But the misconception is that family law is somehow this easy, less involved area of litigation. Sure, some cases may settle and some cases may be uncontested. But that is not often the case.
I’ve spent many a late night at the office gearing up for trial. Or coming into the office on the weekend. Rarely am I alone. One of my co-workers will either be in the office or logged in from home, working hard and putting these families first. Our firm has late night on-line parties where many of us are working into the morning hours from our homes. We don’t take the work that we do lightly. We understand the important work that we do to help families in transition. Every one of the attorneys in this firm is committed to their profession, committed to their family law calling and committed to the families we serve.
My first introduction to the practice of law was as a 17 year old high school student intern here at The Manely Firm, P.C. I’ve watched first hand our dedication to families, the late nights, hard work and strategic approach to every case.
Working for families is never a nine to five job. It’s not an easy job. It’s certainly not made for everyone. When I was a paralegal I assisted on a modification of custody case. To this day, I still remember sitting in court with Mr. Manely when the Judge ruled that our Client would have custody. Our Client turned and looked at his son who was peeking through the window and with a teary eye gave him a thumbs up.
The hard work and late nights are worth it for rewarding moments like that.
Nine to five? Hmmph. More like 24/7 and proud of it!
Alyssa Blanchard