By Lindsey Pippin | May 26, 2020
Ask yourself honestly, what do you think about attorneys? Are your views based on your own personal experience with an attorney, or have general rumors influenced your own opinions about attorneys?
Growing up, I only heard rumors about attorneys through the grapevine because I did not have any family or friends who were attorneys, so I believed what I heard. It was not until I went through a hard spot in my life during my parents’ divorce that placed me on a completely different trajectory for my future. I was inspired to become an attorney, and I ended up in law school. Now more than ever through working with Larry and Nick Rice and their team of attorneys at Rice, Amundsen, & Caperton, I know the rumors I heard growing up are false. I am here today to debunk three of the most popular myths by showing you how public opinion is often misinformed and how you may be missing out on receiving critical help for your serious legal issues.
1. Hiring an attorney is unnecessary because I can do it myself.
Not hiring an attorney, especially when your opposing party has hired their own attorney, is a bad idea. The amount of people I see during court trying to represent themselves in front of a Judge without an attorney has shocked me. Attorneys are trained and educated for three years in subjects relating to the law before they can receive a degree. Then, they must pass a test that covers everything they have learned in law school before attorneys are qualified to represent a client. Specific skills and resources are gained from going through a legal education that are necessary to have a career as an attorney. While there are many smart and talented people in our society, it would be extremely difficult to know what to do when representing yourself if you have not had a legal education.
Particularly for family law which Rice Law specializes in, you almost always need to hire an attorney. There are forms online, like a Marital Dissolution Agreement, that you can download, but these forms are vague and will include zero specifics to your case, such as who is going to get the cat or how will you separate the furniture in your house during a divorce. If you have children or a lot of marital assets, it will be difficult to represent yourself in a divorce. I have seen at the firm where we represent a party whose opposing party chooses to not have an attorney. While we can write the Marital Dissolution Agreement between the parties, it is our duty to always have our client’s best interest in mind.
2. Each attorney is the same, so it doesn’t matter who you hire.
Attorneys range anywhere from having a law license to a nationally recognized specialist in family law. It is important to hire an attorney who focuses in the area of legal help that you need. At Rice, Amundsen, & Caperton, we have NBTA certified family law specialists and concentrate on family law. Between Larry Rice and Nick Rice alone, there are over six decades of experience. They literally wrote the book on divorce. Whatever issue you are having, they are likely to have already seen something similar and know exactly what to do.
Divorce can be one of the worst experiences of someone’s life or the start of a new life. We can help families through it every step of the way. We do our best every time and are always thinking about what is best for our clients. Here is what some of our past clients have said:
“Larry Rice was so very generous with his time and expertise to help my daughter in a messy divorce. She could have never completed it without his help. Larry Rice was an answer to prayer.” -Barbara H.
“I cannot express my gratitude and complete satisfaction of a job well done from such a brilliant and caring team as the Rice Divorce Law. They are indeed top notch and will beat your every expectation!” -Jennifer S.
“One of the best decisions that I’ve ever made was stepping foot into Divorce Attorney Nick Rice’s office.” -Valerie
3. Attorneys can fix all of your problems.
Attorneys are not therapists, but they are here to listen to your needs and see what they can do for your issue. Like I said before, attorneys are trained for solving your problem and seeing that you get the best resolution possible for your case. The best thing clients can do is listen to their attorney. Listen to the advice that is being given and try your best to follow that advice. Attorneys know what they are doing. When a client does not listen to the advice that the attorney is giving, the situation can end up worse than where it started.
It is also a good idea to manage expectations of what your attorney can do. The majority of cases are settled with a compromise between both parties where each person may have to give a little to have the best outcome possible. Compromising is not a loss to your case. Instead, it is usually the best for all people involved including parents and children.
Attorneys I know, especially Larry Rice, Nick Rice, Jessica Ferrante, Erin O’Dea, Chelsea Knox, Faith Sanford, Christopher Burt, and every attorney at Rice, Amundsen, & Caperton are fighters for justice. They are good at what they do and are ready to go into action to help your situation. If you are in a bad situation, do not hesitate to get the help you deserve and find out for yourself which myths about attorneys need to be debunked.
This blog is written by the law clerks and interns of Rice Law. They document their experience working with Memphis divorce lawyer Larry Rice and Memphis divorce lawyer Nick Rice, as well as other members of Rice Law. Rice Law represents clients in divorce and family law matters in Tennessee and Mississippi. We hope these blog posts will be interesting and show their evolution as they move towards being divorce and family lawyers. The statements in these posts should not be used as legal advice about divorce or family law.
Trying to use the aboutdivorce.com website as a substitute for a lawyer potentially sets you up for a disaster of epic proportions.
