It’s a funny thing, being a family law attorney in St. Louis and Clayton, MO; you become very familiar with the intimate details of a person’s life, and yet you are not their best friend or their therapist or their emotional support. You are their lawyer, and what that means and how that works in an attorney/client relationship, especially in family law, is important.
Being an attorney means being objective, taking the facts of someone’s life and understanding what that means in terms of the law. How property is divided, where children live, how decisions are made–all are within the realm of what family law attorneys address and review in cases. It means being able to be empathetic yet non-emotional when looking at these issues; it means being able to provide objective and unbiased guidance to clients in the midst of turmoil.
While at times giving legal advice may seem cold, insensitive, or stand-offish, the relationship between family law attorney and client needs to have space. Because you are neither a client’s friend nor therapist, you cannot buy into everything your client says– you take what they say, assess what the objective facts show, and offer counsel on how a court may view those issues. As an attorney you take a client’s situation and try to provide guidance on the best way out or forward, even if that advice may not be what the client wants to hear.
So when talking to your family law attorney, remember that while they are on your side, they also have to tell you things you may not want to hear. But that is what you want from your attorney: good counsel, and not just blind support.
For questions about family law matters, please contact one of the attorneys at Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal, P.C.
Call Us! 
Contact Us