Tagged: Family Law

As an immigration lawyer, Jennifer Quezada builds trust within local communities that need legal help to bring families together. She works primarily with Spanish-speaking clients in their native language, and uses her own background as an immigrant to offer advice and counsel that creates a sense of security amidst a complex and lengthy legal process. Beyond her legal work, Jennifer discusses marketing, fee transparency, and her firm's strategy to serve additional underserved communities. Although public service is often associated with government roles and non-profits, Jennifer demonstrates that private law firms representing individual clients can also fulfill this mission. Jennifer is a graduate of the William & Mary Law School.

JR Thomas, a client attorney at a community services nonprofit, Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO), that provides multifaceted services to individuals living with HIV and AIDS. Beyond healthcare and social work, BAO provides vital pro bono legal services that cover a broad spectrum of issues. JR specializes in domestic relations legal work, but because all of his time is pro bono, he can spend time helping clients with ancillary matters such as finding housing. Despite the emotional weight of his work, JR loves it because he never knows what's coming next. As long as his clients feel comfortable and supported throughout their legal journey, he's confident he'll find a way to serve them. JR Thomas is a 2019 graduate of Samford University's Cumberland School of Law.

Jenn Russoniello is a family lawyer who started as a social worker disappointed in the system. Jenn highlights the emotional and practical challenges of divorce litigation, which often intertwine personal and legal complexities. She emphasizes the significance of client-centered representation, especially as it relates to the nuances of settlement negotiations, the decision to go to trial, and navigating the complexities of post-judgment issues. Throughout the conversation, Jenn emphasizes the role of empathy, practicality, and adaptability in providing effective legal assistance to families navigating challenging circumstances. Jenn Russoniello is a 2010 graduate of the University of Rutgers - Newark.

People need legal representation, regardless of financial means. Non-profits throughout the country, often called legal aid, play a crucial role in offering civil representation to individuals who lack the means to hire a lawyer. Hannah Wagner serves as a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, where she addresses various legal needs within the community. Her practice spans education cases for students with special needs, restraining orders for individuals facing life-threatening situations, and child advocacy within domestic disputes as a guardian ad litem. This episode delves into the intricacies of providing legal support to children navigating challenging environments, highlighting the importance of creative advocacy. Hannah is a 2020 graduate of the University of Toledo College of Law.

Whitney Lallas is a family law attorney in Maine. She shares her journey into family law, influenced by her interest in psychology and math. The emotional and financial aspects of her work figure prominently into what she likes about her work, as well as what's challenging. She provides insights into handling prenuptial agreements, child-related matters, and dealing with hidden assets. Whitney also explains her eat-what-you-kill compensation structure and emphasizes the significance of maintaining work-life balance. Whitney is a 2019 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law.

Justin Bloom went to law school to right environmental wrongs via the law. In this episode, he talks about his range of experiences. While his first job was defending environmental takings cases, his career took a winding path from tort litigation to immigration. He even quit a job after a boss asked him to coach clients to lie. He also worked directly for a model environmental advocacy organization that utilized citizen action to help government agencies remedy legal violations of the Clean Water Act. Today, Justin runs a nonprofit that uses a variety of strategies to protect coastal areas. While he and other volunteers work to make the organization financially stable, he's practicing law on the side to ensure that he is too. Justin is a graduate of Tulane University School of Law.

Greg Aycock shares how he transitioned from representing defendants to representing plaintiffs. He left his insurance defense practice on a leap of faith and discusses the struggles of being your own boss and getting a firm off the ground. Until Greg gets his medical malpractice practice off the ground, he pays the rent with divorces and child custody work. For either practice, Greg spends considerable time explaining the legal process and law to clients, while keeping them under control so that he can present their best case possible. Greg is a graduate of Washington University School of Law.

Gabriel Cheong is the owner of a small family law firm. In this episode, Gabriel explains how his use of technology and fixed fees maximizes time spent on his clients' legal dilemmas. He mixes traditional litigation with mediation, conciliation, and guardian ad litem. With this kind of work, Gabriel experiences emotional ups and downs. Yet he observes that they’re two sides of the same coin. After all, his job is to help clients whose lives are being torn apart. Gabriel is a graduate of Northeastern Law School.