When I began my career, matrimonial law truly was not a favored area of practice among attorneys. It was messy business - a party had to show marital fault to get a divorce. So much has changed, and our firm is in a unique position to respond to continuing changes.
Part of my contribution to the law has been co-authoring New Jersey Family Law Practice and updating it over the years. I'm proud to say that it's served both judges and lawyers well in that it's a comprehensive history of the development of our area of the law. I often tell my students at Seton Hall Law that you can't know where the law is going unless you know where the law has been. Because the law is constantly developing, any particular moment in time is just a point in time in the life of the ever-evolving law.
Our firm has an excellent composition of highly skilled attorneys dedicated to matrimonial law. It is a responsibility of mine to identify a client's needs, and having done so, match the client with the appropriate attorney in our firm who can best serve those needs.
We have a basic policy with all of our clients: we will not be optimistic about a case or outcome; we will not be pessimistic. Instead, we'll tell the client exactly what we think. An honest assessment is key. And, we will always seek to be part of the solution, and not be part of the problem.
The legal issues in a case must be taken in the context of the whole picture, in addition to the personal and social issues. A good attorney should be able to stand back and recognize the impact of a decision or resolution at various points of time in the future. There are some things worth going to the mat for in a divorce, and others that are flatly not justified in view of the expense of time and resources and the personal toll on the litigants and their children.
We are in a people business. Therefore, it's important to care in our area of the law, and to be able to relate to what each client is going through. Oddly enough, in terms of relating to people, I have learned about human nature from my horse, Rusty. Rusty moves away from pressure - push one way and he'll want to ease the stress and move away from the pressure. People are not really that much different. Rusty has taught me important lessons -- for if I can communicate with a being solely through physical gestures, communicating with people employing verbal language has to be so much easier.
