This will be my first and, hopefully, only self-serving blog.  It was prompted by a conversation with a long-standing client.  She indicated that people said to her that lawyers will do whatever they can to complicate matters and run up fees.  She was, nonetheless, not concerned because she had worked with my firm for years and knew that we would not ever do such a thing.  The ironic part is her case is a case that, if anyone would ever do it, hers would be the case.  

The client was in a marriage-like relationship without being married for more than 20 years.  Then, we drafted a prenuptial agreement for their marriage. A divorce was filed before their second anniversary.  To anyone who is familiar with family law, this case has issues.  However, we resolved the issues and obtained a more favorable return for the client than even the prenup we drafted provided for, all within about 3 months, zero court appearances and nominal legal fees.

I was troubled to hear that people still think of lawyers like that.  I hear lawyer jokes once and awhile and I hear people complain about lawyers from time to time.  And, of course, over the years, I have heard people talk about me and my firm this way too.  As a family law and divorce attorney, clients are rarely happy to see me and often unhappy at the end of their case because their marriage, family and finances have been torn apart.

This conversation came on the eve of the relocation and expansion of my law office.  We are moving our offices from 345 Centre Street, Nutley, NJ to 187 Washington Avenue, Nutley, NJ on December 20th.  We are moving into approximately five-times the office space that we currently occupy and have recently added 2 new staff members which, in part, prompted this move.

So, I thought it was time to publish a little about our office, how we operate and what sets us apart from the view many have about lawyers.

Currently, our staff includes myself as lead attorney, Rachel L. Isaacs, Esq., staff associate, Jacqueline Day, senior paralegal, Griselle Fernandez, staff paralegal and Carmen Figueroa, the office secretary and assistant.  We also, from time to time, employ part and full-time law clerks and law students to further augment our staff and services.

The larger staff and facility allow us to provide better and more services for our clients.  We will now have the support and space to hold conferences and client seminars.  We will also be able to work with and bring into the office other professional and service agencies to augment the services that we provide for our clients.  And, most importantly, we will be better able to serve and accommodate the needs of our clients and the cases we handle.

This move and staff additions makes our office one of the, if not, the largest law firm concentrated in family law in Nutley, New Jersey and its surrounding towns.  That says a great deal because 10 years ago when I made the decision to concentrate this firm in family law, that was a decision to turn away more than 80 percent of the work that was and would be coming to my office.  At that time, having been in private practice for myself for only about one year was a tremendous risk because we did not have that much business in the first place.  Now, I was deciding to turn away the greatest percentage of work that I could hope to receive.

The decision to concentrate was prompted by my belief that it was impossible to be great in every area of law.  While one can be fair or maybe even good at most areas, no one could be great at any one.  Considering the fact that there are over 80,000 lawyers in New Jersey, I felt being "good" was not good enough.  My decision was based on a desire to handle a few select areas with outstanding skill and client service.  I figured the combination of specialized skill development, implementation of automated service and unparalleled customer service would set this firm and me apart from the other 79,999 attorneys in New Jersey.

I believe we have accomplished this.  Aside from being one of the largest, if not the largest, firm of our concentration in the area, we offer customer services unlike any other attorney that I have experienced in my 15 years of practice.  First, we make ourselves available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I have received calls from clients at 4 am when the police are serving them with restraining orders and have responded.  I have filed emergent appeals for clients at 9 am Christmas morning when there are custody and visitation emergencies.  I tell all my clients that family law is not a 9-5 job with me; it is a 5-9  job because that is when family law issues arise.

I meet clients at 9 o'clock at night and I meet on the weekends and holidays.  I have phone conferences if they are out-of-state, internet conferences for new clients who are unable to make it to the office and I have even make house calls for clients who are unable to make it out to my office.  We do what's need to ensure we meet and exceed our client's needs.

I keep separate cell phone numbers for my clients so I know the call is important.  My office has a 24 hour answering service and all of my voicemails, office and cell, indicate daily where I am and that they can expect a response to their message within three hours, even on weekends and holidays.  

The single greatest complaint people have about attorneys is that they do not return phone calls promptly.  My office promises a response within 3 hours.  We also almost immediately respond to emails and text messages no matter when or what time they are received.

That being said, you can still send me any good lawyer jokes.  I still love a good joke.