Where can I hire an attorney with heart?
I get that question all the time. Okay, so not exactly that question, but isn’t that what we mean? We ask for a “good” attorney or a “reasonably priced” attorney or one “who cares and will listen to me.”
In Collaborative Team Practice, attorneys work with other professionals who have training and experience in the non-legal areas of divorce. Those other professionals help the clients with the financial information, the child/parenting issues, and the emotional rollercoaster of the process, while the attorneys focus specifically on the legal aspects.
Why would an attorney want to work in Team Practice?
In the traditional model they do it all. They set up the spreadsheets and explain financial options, help their clients come up with a parenting time schedule and referee the arguments and emotions. All of that takes a lot of hours, and to be perfectly honest, that turns into a lot of billable hours.
Attorneys who limit their work to the legal aspects of the divorce have less billable time. They work side by side with experts who specialize in the other essential areas of divorce. Since they are only doing one piece of the work they get just one piece of the billable hours.
So, again, why do they do it?
Team practice attorneys are members of the broader community of attorneys out there who are motivated by putting their clients’ interests first. I know from professional experience that they understand how difficult divorce is and want to be of service. They want their clients to get the full support a team can provide. Contrary to all of the humor about lawyers, there is an abundance of really good, caring attorneys. Team Practice Collaborative Attorneys absolutely have heart.