Having a good family lawyer on your side is essential when dealing with a situation like a divorce or custody battle. That being said, navigating the legal system in these challenging times can be complicated — particularly if they have never had to hire a lawyer before.
Unfortunately, the legal system’s status quo is rigid, bureaucratic, opaque, and full of misinformation. Unlike most fields of law, family firms don’t trade in vengeance and fight not to correct a long-gone past but rather strive for a brighter future with their clients’ children. Humans will fight to their last breath for a better tomorrow, but the landscape of our legal system often neglects that desperate need.
A bureaucratic, all-encompassing monster, the fabric of the legal system has been stretched thinner than our society can afford. In Seattle, for example, Judges have lamented that most of their dockets are often filled with unrepresented parties. In a world where 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men are estimated to be struck by their partners at some time in their lives, these scary numbers quickly become monstrous.
Now more than ever, there is a desperate need for a new type of practice.
Restoring Humanity to Family Law
An estimated 56% of marriages end in divorce, and to the dismay of those concerned, they find out too late that they long ago opted out of the title system and will now have to split their house with a partner they hate. Further, they have no way of waiving their child support obligations — even if they never exercise any parental custody rights. People going through divorces or custody disputes are already experiencing one of the most stressful, challenging moments in their lives. Yet law firms have done little to educate the public about the nature of the system before they reach a family law office.
In part, this is due to a lack of foresight by managing attorneys, who are often business and communications laymen with no formal training beyond industry norms. And it is no help that our trust economy is in tatters, with more of the public than ever questioning the systems and authorities that oversee their lives.
It is essential that clients find a team they can trust before embarking on the most critical event of their lives. That being said, there are ways that law firms can work within the limits of this system to deliver exceptional client service, and few firms have done so much in this regard as Seattle-based family law firm The Hemmat Law Group.
Innovation Puts Humanity Back in Family Law
John Avi Socha
is the Chief Operating Officer of the Hemmat Law Group, a civil litigation firm in Seattle, Washington, and the CEO of Hemmat Interactive, a legal software and media startup. As the host of the podcast “Gossip Without Prejudice,” John spends his time highlighting legal misconduct and advocating for reform in the legal industry.
At Hemmat Law Group, John has led a transformation in the firm, using innovative technology to ensure that clients receive only the highest standard of customer service. Some of the cutting-edge approaches that Hemmat Law has introduced with John’s expertise include:
- Auto-scheduling system: These days, clients expect convenience. In an increasingly interconnected world, there’s little excuse for delays or a lack of communication. “We have an auto-scheduling system that allows you to get on the calendar of an attorney instantly, all from your smartphone,” John says. “Additionally, we are open 24/7, allowing clients to get onto our schedule when they need us — day or night.”
- Text office: Many law firms are staying up-to-date on modern communication trends by allowing clients to communicate with their attorneys via text message. “You can text our office,” explains John. “We have a custom technology that allows clients to text with their legal team as if our office line were a cell phone.”
How Transparent Communication Restores Trust
However, technology is only one tool law firms can use to ensure that their practices do not lose sight of the human side of the legal industry. John also emphasizes that a return to basics — prioritizing transparent communication and helping make difficult situations easier — can restore that connection. “Though this may not seem very revolutionary,” he explains, “we are dedicated to making the complex world of the law a little less complicated and a hard time a bit easier for our clients.”
One way law firms can improve their transparency is by investing in educational initiatives. Hemmat Law, for example, offers extensive information on its website — not just about family law but also about the legal industry in general on topics such as communication norms, billing structures, the pitfalls of the billable hour, firing an attorney, what to look for when hiring an attorney, and more. “So few offices put the work in to educate the public about what to look for, and clients get screwed for it,” John asserts. “HLG tries to soften as many of the rough edges as possible.”
Indeed, by revolutionizing the legal process and exposing the truths of the legal system, firms like Hemmat Law Group are putting their clients first. With this approach, Hemmat Law is able to guide its clients through the legal process and strive for the best possible outcomes. “We know that we are often working with clients during challenging and confusing life situations,” Socha concludes, “and we pride ourselves on putting our clients first, making sure that the legal process is as clear and accessible as possible.”
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