JIWLP is an online resource dedicated to providing prospective lawyers and those seeking to enter the legal profession with general information, guidance and direction on starting a legal career, details about a variety of legal specialties as well as assistance with finding professional associations.
All persons who aspire to become a lawyer, no matter what specialty, must have completed a bachelor's degree. This degree can be from many different fields, but recommended ones are general relevant to the preferred law specialty. For example, if a person sees tax law as their forte, their degree might be a financial one. If politics is their goal, a political science degree might be the one they achieve.
The preferred law colleges are ones accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). The Juris Doctor degree is awarded after successful completion of all requirements. Then the person must pass the bar examination for the state they wish to practice in. These are the requirements for all future lawyers.
Although lawyers may elect to specifically major in divorce, the course work for that specialty is called family law. This is wider than divorce only. It includes courses related to the laws on adoption, finance in families, property laws in marriage, divorce, children's rights in a family, and even laws concerning the elderly.
Once a person completes a specialty in family law, many schools offer a family law certificate. A person does not need this certificate to actually practice family law, but it makes their practice more creditable. Some states require a separate ethics exam for a lawyer wishing to practice family law in that state.
With this background and education, a person may choose to concentrate primarily on divorce cases. Courses in counseling are very important to a divorce lawyer. That lawyer will be expected to deal with people who may be under very stressful conditions and training in counseling will help them do that.
Many lawyers handle cases that are destined to end up in court. This does not always happen in the case of a divorce and may not be the ideal. If a lawyer enjoys arguing a case in court, enjoys the adversarial aspect of law, divorce law may not bring them as much satisfaction.
Services are not limited
Representing a person who has decided on a divorce is not limited to meeting with the client, filing the paperwork, developing the case, and presenting it in court. Cases may not end in court, they may not even end up in filing the paperwork.
Services may include working with other lawyers
Reconciliation may be part of the services offered by the divorce lawyer. A divorce lawyer may be expected to work with the other partner’s lawyer to work out the situation to everyone’s satisfaction.
Services including children
The children affected by the breaking up of a marriage need to be considered and a divorce lawyer may be expected to view the rights of the children when decisions are being made.
Services including teaching
The person requesting a divorce may need to be taught about the impacts both on the family concerned, the finances involved and the laws concerning custody if children are involved.
Divorce lawyers may join the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Foundation. This foundation is charitable and offers grants to encourage the support of families who are involved in a marriage breakup. Their mission is dedicated to protecting children and families. They offer counseling in cases that involve abuse, sessions on how to cope with co-parenting and work with schools who have programs to help children cope who are involved in a family breakup.
For divorce lawyers who specialize in financial matters, the Association of Divorce Financial Planners may be attractive to them. Their mission is to encourage the inclusion of financial planning in any divorce proceedings, to strengthen the ethics of financial planners working with a divorce and to encourage future lawyers towards this field.
An organization called The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals is one that divorce lawyers may wish to be a member of. This organization’s goal is to keep divorce cases out of court. They support a collaborative effort between the lawyers of each divorcing couple to achieve a peaceful divorce. To do this, they encourage open communication of information, divorce coaches, and financial planning.
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