Divorce Lawyer: Working on Weekends

Oct 3
08:07

2011

Will Beaumont

Will Beaumont

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This article attempts to explain one aspect of the reality of being a divorce lawyer, which is working on weekends.

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When you are just beginning your practice it is hard to imagine you not having to work on the weekends. While being a divorce lawyer may be seen by some as a 9 to 5 job working Mondays through Fridays,Divorce Lawyer: Working on Weekends Articles this may be the case after you have been well-established, have a consistent client base, and are fully staffed and able to perform a variety of functions to prepare you for court in a timely and efficient manner. But however, this is not something to be seen as incredibly bad. In fact, it is common for people who have just begun a new business to have to work longer hours reducing their rate of compensation, in order to make sure that the business is successful and prosperous.

There are simply too many things to do for a solo divorce lawyer to accomplish during the week without having to work on the weekend. Take for example, advertising. If you are doing print media, you will need to come up with designs that are attractive and effectively convey your message. While you may not be a graphic designer, you will need to at least review the work of someone that you have hired or come up with designs within your reach. While this surely can be done easily, you want to make sure that you are doing it as cost-effective as possible.

When you're just starting out, it is unreasonable to expect that you will have office staff able to make sure that your office space organized and that you were able to focus on being a divorce lawyer during the week. As a result, the weekend is your time to organize the office, make sure that bills are sent out to clients, make sure that your bills have been paid, and make sure that files are organized in that you are ready for the work week.

Perhaps the biggest downside of working on the weekend, for divorce lawyer, or really even for almost any attorneys, is that many of the large office buildings turn off their air conditioner and heating systems during off hours. In other words, if you're in a warm environment in can be the case that you will need to have a fan or other way to stay cool as you work. This can be quite odd at the beginning, as you assume that large office spaces will keep their utilities running in the event of work that needs to be done. But as you get used to it, it should become more normal. If you are uncomfortable with this, many smaller office buildings (typically those not in the downtown area) keep their utilities running throughout the week.

Do not assume that simply because you have to work a little harder or a little bit more or on the weekend that you should not go solo. Similar to criminal attorneys, a divorce lawyer will likely one day have to be a solo practitioner and so it can be better to do the hard and long work earlier rather than later in your career.

Will Beaumont, who has an office in New Orleans, reminds you this article is simply informational and not legal advice.