Divorce Lawyer: Doing Other Forms of Law

For a divorce lawyer, doing other forms of law can be really tempting. This is because, among other reasons, the family law practice is hugely cyclical. This means that at times the family law practice blooms while at other times it drops significantly. This means that an attorney could seek to practice other forms of law in order to even out his or her work load and to ensure consistency for their practice and work. Adding to this is the fact that family law is often a high volume practice, meaning that the attorney is often exposed to a number of invitations to handle cases outside of his or her primary concentration.

For instance, it is common for divorce lawyer to be approached about doing criminal law, personal-injury representation, or even more particular fields such as construction litigation. In fact, the reverse is also true. This means that a number of criminal practitioners or those practicing personal injury or in other litigation could decide to take on an occasional family law client. Indeed, there are numerous civil practitioners who simply engage in a general practice that covers a number of different fields.

There are positives and negatives for doing this. On the one hand focusing almost entirely on one area of the law can lead to a great understanding of what the particulars are of the field, thereby providing clients with a great knowledge of not only how courts may view a number of different scenarios but also what a lot of the law is as applied to particular case. In other words, this type of divorce lawyer may be more efficient and therefore cost-effective in representing their clients.

On the other hand, exposing oneself to different forms of law and therefore different civil tactics can lead to an overall greater understanding of the law. This then can be applied in reverse back to the family law practice for the benefit of the clients. For instance, if you're practice does not have sufficient litigation experience, you may decide to take a couple of criminal law cases in order to exposure sells more to courtroom litigation. Perhaps the negative to this though is that it seems difficult to imagine an attorney mastering more than three or four different fields.

Perhaps the key for the divorce lawyer to make the decision on whether they will accept such cases is the comfort level of that attorney with doing such work. If a divorce lawyer has, for instance, had exposure to a different form of law at some point in their career or life, this could influence their decision on whether to take cases outside of family law. Also, the client may simply want that attorney and be comfortable on the understanding that the attorney would not take the case were he or she not able to get up to speed and be able to provide adequate representation. Indeed, practicing the same thing over and over for many years may lead an attorney to become burned out, and so it could be important to learn new areas of the law.

New Orleans attorney Will Beaumont provided this article for informational purposes, not legal advice.