The 1958 Lawyer

Bill Belmont was a trial attorney, investigative attorney, worked in law enforcement, and nearly became an FBI agent before starting his investigative firm. He jokes he founded The Belmont Group with one goal in mind: to make more money so that his wife wasn’t relegated to the ‘hillbilly’ lifestyle he enjoyed.

Bill has considerable experience investigating civil and criminal matters in a wide range of industries including finance, fashion, entertainment and real estate. And he puts client relationships first, even over the money he claims he started this firm to earn. Jokes aside, helping people in tight situations is the real reason he started this work.

Life at an investigative firm isn’t all Ray Donovan. But it is fun. Why Bill enjoys the latest stage in his ever-morphing career:

· “Well, like every Jewish kid on Long Island. I wanted to be a cop…” (01:22)

· How team sports help attorneys conquer their jobs (13:20)

· Matrimonial cases. Ray Donovan. Catfishing situations. And more. (17:05)

· Life is about the way you frame it (31:48)

QUOTES

“I'm really a life coach when I think about it, right? My job is to motivate people to do the right thing. That's what I do. I bring motivation to people so they can see the light and avoid the more complicated aspects to [their situation].”

“I always try to tell young people in the profession, both lawyers and investigators – I go back to my old law school and I try to mentor as much as I can – never chase the dollar. Chase the relationship.”

“I love the legal profession. I can't stand when people talk about ‘Oh, I’m a recovering attorney.’ No buddy, that’s your problem. The legal profession is an amazing profession. I have friends I grew up with and who I went to law school who are doing a thousand different jobs: I'm an investigator, they're in finance, some have their own businesses. But the one thing that's great about the law is that thread runs through everything you do. There’s nothing you do in life, professionally, that doesn't have some aspect of the law to it. So it’s a great, great activity.”

BILL BELMONT, INVESTIGATIVE ATTORNEY & FOUNDER OF THE BELMONT GROUP INVESTIGATIVE FIRM

Mr. Belmont has over 30 years of experience in the investigation, due diligence, and security field. In addition to having worked as a law enforcement officer and trial attorney, Mr. Belmont served as Director of Operations for the New York office of Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations.

Mr. Belmont has overseen the management of hundreds of corporate investigations involving fraud, workplace misconduct, brand protection and theft of trade secrets. Additionally, he has managed hundreds of investigations for national and international law firms. Also, he has developed and implemented due diligence protocols for dozens of financial institutions to ensure the integrity of their investments. He provides clients with pre-incident consulting, including vulnerability surveys, threat assessments and crisis management plans and procedures. Furthermore, Mr. Belmont provides security consulting services to clients for personal and private events.

Mr. Belmont oversees the implementation of increased security measures for many corporate clients. He serves as a member of crisis management teams, assisting with contingency plans for critical occurrences, such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, computer network penetrations, business interruptions and incidents of workplace violence.

www.thebelmontgrp.com 

Bill’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williambelmont/

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

We’re going to use the phrase ‘from this to that’ a lot because Criminal Defense attorney Lori Levin’s experience is expansive. She started as a prosecutor in the state’s attorney’s office and in 2009 decided to go private and open her own firm. Running a solo practice meant learning lessons about how to operate both as an attorney and a business owner.

Now Lori calls her criminal defense solo work the most fulfilling stage in her career to date.

Lori’s amazing experiences in her career and insights from running a solo practice in Criminal Defense:

• From Prosecution to creating a new court in Illinois (03:49)
• Running a solo practice: From business acumen to mental health (20:53)
• State of the criminal system today (31:25)
• What Lori Levin wants to see changed in the business of law (38:33)

Learning your worth as a solo practice attorney

“I was in the planning group to help start the first felony mental health court, diversion court, in Cook County, at 26th Street – it's now spread out throughout the county and throughout the state…. It was really amazing how, the help with drugs…the people who had co-occurring disorders wound up getting on the right path and how their lives were turned around. And these were folks to 30 years ago, might have gotten locked up or the criminal justice system might have thrown them away. And now they wind up getting jobs getting help. And it really was rewarding.”

“I was lucky that I was an experienced lawyer, [that] when I opened up my own practice that I knew how to practice law. So, then the issue was learning how to operate a business…. I had another experienced defense attorney pulled me aside and say ‘Lori, we're in a business and you need to bill,’ and the first time that I quoted somebody what I was worth and they said yes it was refreshing.”

“I've been doing this for a long time. And I think I’ve learned from that that I need to put a premium on my mental health. I think that when I was just prosecuting murder cases it got to me in a way that I didn't appreciate until I stopped prosecuting murder cases…. I try to make sure that I'm grounded, that I do things that will take me away from the law, at times, and I'm very lucky that I have a really good support network.”

LORI LEVIN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE SOLO PRACTICE ATTORNEY

Lori G. Levin is a forceful advocate for people facing charges in Criminal and Juvenile Court as well as those being investigated by the Department of Children and Family Services

and/or appealing DCFS findings. After a long career in public service, Lori opened her private practice in 2009. She has successfully defended persons in Criminal and Juvenile Court as well as in DCFS administrative appeals, not only in the Circuit Court of Cook County but also in the collar counties.

Lori spent many years as a prosecutor and supervisor with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, positions that have given her substantial insight into the inner workings of the criminal justice system and valuable knowledge to shape her clients’ defense tactics. The Governor of Illinois appointed Lori to be the Executive Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, an agency dedicated to improving the Illinois criminal justice system. Today, as a Chicago and North Shore criminal defense attorney, Lori Levin passionately fights to secure justice for her clients.
 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/criminaldefense1/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chicagodefense 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LoriLevin
 

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

InfoLawGroup LLP has offices across the U.S. and covers three major areas of law – advertising, privacy, and technology – but they aren’t a huge firm. They are a boutique law firm and practice in a niche market, where those three practice areas overlap. Jamie explains how their niche powerhouse of firm was built and how they optimize their team’s broad and specialized knowledge.

Finding the ‘sweet-spot’ at your boutique law firm:

• The intersection of 3 practice areas (01:51)
• Optimizing firm IP and building a forward thinking law practice (22:02)
• BBQ & Jamie’s team “Silence of the Hams” (35:30)
• What Jamie Rubin wants to see changed in the business of law (43:53)

The power of a boutique law firm in the modern day

“Everyone in our firm, can do advertising law, and do privacy law and can do technology law, as siloed practices—some of us have a little bit more focused in one area than the other….And a lot of our clients need us to meet in the middle. The sweet-spot, everything that we do today for our clients, combines all three of those elements….It's still a niche practice, a boutique practice. But to be able to provide that advice, all three of those areas at the same time, [comes] as a real benefit to our clients.”

“We spent a lot of time and energy, making a decision to use cloud based services for our system. And that was the first thing we had to do to help eliminate some overhead when it came to physical office space and fostering the ability to generally be on the road, and still work seamlessly. Because we travel a lot. I mean, this is not so much about working from home, as it is being able to work seamlessly everywhere.”

“We kind of took a big firm practice and turned it into a boutique. And our firm is primarily comprised of former Big Law attorneys, plus a number of executive level associate general counsels at companies, some retailers, and so we bring a perspective…that's both Big Law trained plus in-house lawyer, to provide…down and dirty, practical advice.”

JAMIE RUBIN, Partner at Boutique Law Firm InfoLawGroup LLP

Jamie Rubin is an advertising, technology and privacy lawyer who works with clients to bring their advertising, promotional and entertainment campaigns from concept to execution. Jamie’s practice covers the spectrum of traditional and emerging advertising and entertainment issues. He works on national and digital advertising campaigns, celebrity spokesperson agreements, sweepstakes and user-generated content promotions, social networking and viral marketing matters, claim substantiation, mobile applications and beyond. Jamie is a frequent speaker and author on new media topics and is recognized as a Leader in the Field for Media & Entertainment by Chambers Partners.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/infolawgroup-llp

Website: www.infolawgroup.com

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

The secret to law practice development? Successful attorneys are using coaches; experts like Amy who know the legal industry inside and out. From law practice partner, to legal educator, to Apochromatik, Amy can offer expertise it’d take decades to learn from books. Which is why her lawyer clients call her their ‘secret weapon.’

Developing Your Law Practice with Actionable Goals:

· Driving employee engagement without a traditional office setup (5:44)

· Goals you can measure and where attorneys trip up (14:34)

· Where do you want to end up? (21:24)

· What Amy Gardner wants to see changed in the business of law (35:23)

For a long-term career, take control with purpose and develop a law practice you love.

“One law firm partner told us not too long ago, ‘My team needs more than just another happy hour.’ And so it really is about making sure that teams have the time to spend together. And that [this time is spent] building relationships, rather than just getting things done.”

“I see lawyers all the time will say things like I want to bring in more business. Well, that's a great aspiration. But that's not really a goal, right? You got to have measurements so that you know whether or not you've achieved your goal.”

“The people who work for [a law firm] really want feedback, and they want mentoring….They feel like the maybe the firm will teach them how to write a brief. But that doesn't mean that they feel like they're always getting as much guidance as they want in terms of how to present arguments and things like that.”

CONNECT WITH AMY GARDNER, Law Practice Development Coach

Amy M. Gardner is a certified Career and Career Transitions Coach and Team Development and Leadership Consultant with Apochromatik. She coaches attorneys and other professionals one-on-one, in small group “Future in Focus” attorney masterminds, and delivers workshops for law firms and other employers.

Her work draws on her unique experience as dean of students at the University of Chicago Law School and a successful career practicing law, first as a Skadden litigation associate and later as an associate and then partner at a mid-size Chicago firm. Her career and goal achievement advice has been featured in media including ABA publications, Bustle, Corporette, Glassdoor, Health, Monster, NBC, and Women's Running magazine. 

Amy’s LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/amygardner

Apochromatik

 www.apochromatik.com 

Blog: https://www.apochromatik.com/blog 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/apochromatik 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apochromatik 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_apochromatik/

More Law Practice Development Blogs

· Leslee Cohen, “Apochromatik” The Coalition of Women's Initiatives in Law Newsletter (Winter 2020) https://storage.memberplanet.com/groups/docustore/92295d87a6f326d3a3e8a1daad9827c9f85f6b29641197a62cd4fc1d451ba902/Coalition-Newsletter---December-2020---FINAL---12-22-20.pdf

· Amy M. Gardner & Keith R. Sbiral, “Goals Only Go So Far: Why Engagement Should Top Your To-Do List in 2021” The Bottom Line: The newsletter of the Illinois State Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law Office Management and Economics (Winter 2021) https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57d5ada959cc684a2334324f/t/602577826a0e1879eebd3fce/1613068162399/Law+Office+Management+and+Economics%2C+Standing+Committee+on+February+2021.pdf

· “Lawyering And Parenting? Legal Support Services Help Lawyer Moms Do Both” Amata Blog (11 February, 2021) https://ablog.amatacorp.com/blog/posts/legal-support-services-lawyer-moms/ 

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

She was inspired by Encyclopedia Brown and once aspired to become a prison warden, now Tracy Coenen is a revered fraud investigator and forensic accountant. Attorneys go beyond certifications when picking an investigator; Tracy proves why so many choose her.

Key moments:

· The 3 areas of fraud and Lifestyle Analysis (02:06)

· Being the investigator for both sides of a divorce (08:38)

· Picking the best forensic account or fraud investigator for your case (13:23)

· Fraud and the consistent mistakes business owners make (16:55)

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“In many divorces, there's a lot of suspicion and a lot of negative feelings. In order to effectively use one expert, there has to be a trust level there. There has to be trust that that expert isn't in cahoots with one side…. That's sometimes a hard place to get to.”

“The numbers do sort of speak to me…something I call investigative intuition…. I can go through statements and pick out certain transactions and go back to the client and say, ‘These transactions I'd like you to look at and can you tell me anything you might know about them?’....I can't tell you how many times a client comes back comes back and says, I didn't know about those transactions, but there's a couple here that are really stinky.”

“People are as dumb about the money as they've always been…. All the electronic banking has made it in some ways a little bit easier to steal, because a few clicks of a button and you could transfer money out of the company's bank account to you personally. The thing is: there's going to be more documentation of that than there ever was before, if someone takes the time to dig in.”

“Segregation of duties is literally just taking the money handling process and dividing it up between multiple people so that they are sort of naturally double checking each other. ‘Well, how can I possibly do it in my small company?’ Very simply: have the bank statement sent to your home, Mr. Owner… and you should let your employees know, very subtly, that you're opening and looking at it. Because it's a great deterrent.”

CONNECT WITH TRACY COENEN

Tracy Coenen, CPA, CFF of Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting has spent more than 20 years investigating fraud. Her educational background includes an Honors Bachelor of Arts

in Criminology and Law Studies and a Master of Business Administration, both from Marquette University. Tracy is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the designations Certified in Financial Forensics and Master Analyst in Financial Forensics.

She has personally completed more than 400 forensic accounting engagements in a wide variety of industries, including cases of embezzlement, financial statement fraud, investment fraud, divorce, and insurance fraud. Tracy has also been named an expert witness in numerous cases involving damage calculations, commercial contract disputes, shareholder disputes and criminal defense, and has testified more than 75 times. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracycoenen/ Sequence Inc.: www.sequenceinc.com Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

Don’t equate the tech changes that are happening in the courts, like E-Filing and the incorporation of video calls, with your firm having to adopt all new legal tech to keep up with the times. While John D. Risvold likes the tech changes he sees in the legal system, he credits IP—his own pursuit of medical knowledge and expert support from family, friends, and his colleagues—for his practice’s success. With a focus on strong IP, a server (or cloud drive) and Microsoft 365 is all your firm needs to be profitable. Even the office is optional.

Key moments:

The Collins Law Firm minimal tech setup (01:21)

Examples of powerful IP at play in a law firm (06:31)

Marketing techniques and tools (25:10)

What John Risvold wants to see changed in the legal profession (41:20)

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I haven't been in the office in three weeks, but 2020 was one of the most successful years the firm has had in the last decade. It's just a testament to everybody's pulling together and hard work and making the technology work too.”

“We're still getting cases resolved because of the expertise of folks at the firm, and the history of the firm and it's experience.”

“The way things are going, if you have a good laptop, a good internet connection and you know how use Word, Excel, and Outlook, you can run an entire practice. You don't need an office space. You don't need any of the fancy case management systems…. You really can run the whole thing from a laptop and Excel and Outlook.”

“The pandemic [has] dragged our industry kicking and screaming from the mid-18th century to the present…. Carbon paper is such a hot commodity in Cook County that the judges have written their courtroom numbers on them and ‘Do not steal’….Hopefully, now that they've decided to do smart things like digital orders and PDF orders and email…we shouldn't be handwriting orders [any longer.]”

CONNECT WITH JOHN RISVOLD

John, a personal injury trial lawyer at The Collins Law Firm P.C., has dedicated his career to fighting those responsible for injuring his clients. He focuses his practice on traumatic brain injury, car and truck crashes, medical negligence, nursing home neglect, and catastrophic personal injury. He spends the majority of his practice helping victims of catastrophic injury obtain justice.

Instagram: @johnrisvoldesq

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrisvold

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RisvoldTrial/

The Collins Law Firm: https://www.collinslaw.com/

KEEP READING:

“Microsoft Excel 2016 Training for Lawyers: Using the Law Firm Project Tracker, Tutorial Lesson” TeachUComp, 12 Jan 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emj30cFVBuc

“Office 365 For Legal Case Management: How to Use Office 365 for Your Firm” Arrow Consultants, 3 July 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR1qivK5HwA

“LogMeIn Rescue Live Guide And Lastpass Named Winners In 2020 Best In Biz Awards” LogMeIn, 17 December 2020
https://blog.logmeininc.com/logmein-rescue-live-guide-and-lastpass-named-winners-in-2020-best-in-biz-awards/

Advitam IP focuses on hiring in strong IP when running their law firm
https://ablog.amatacorp.com/blog/posts/while-lavish-law-office-space-is-nice-talent-tops-list-of-client-priorities/ 
 

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

Faye is teaching female attorneys not to make the assumptions she did: that hard work is all it takes to be seen. Previously a lawyer working within the Canadian government, when her boss retired, her job retired too, which was a shock. She now runs Her Legal Global, an international community which empowers women in law through practical skill development and mentorship, in Canada and the United States.

Key moments:

· Faye’s story (02:00)

· Career successes, failures, and discovering yourself (16:50)

· How Her Legal Global provides a new environment for female lawyers (25:10)

· What Faye Gelb wants to see changed in the legal profession (31:36)

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“If I could go back, I would have been much more proactive and strategic about my development and my career.”

“Back in March this year I went on to LinkedIn to network and I started talking to women…I realized that in the last almost 30 years since I was called, not a lot has changed, they face the same challenges…. I really thought: ‘What is it, why can't we have a better way… Why is it the same-old, same-old after this many years? We have all these different initiatives!’”

“If you want to have pay equity, start negotiating from the beginning. So, how do you do that if you’re timid or you've never been taught? Where do you get those skills? Who's going to teach you?”

“We need to define success for ourselves and with law it becomes a ‘big picture’ success, always. Most people see success in law as getting into law school, graduating law school, getting your first job, getting a certain pay rate, making a certain position in the firm, but every day we have success and if we only relate our achievements to these big goals then it sets us up for perfectionism. And to be crushed when things don't go [as planned].”

CONNECT WITH FAYE GELB

Lawyer Faye Gelb is the founder of Her Legal Global, a private online community for women in law to empower their careers. Women have a shared experience in law that is consistent regardless of where they live or practice. Our community provides the space, expert information, mentors, and virtual coffees to support and help women overcome obstacles. We are strategic, proactive, and innovative in our approach. Love your career! 

Her Legal Global: https://www.herlegalglobal.com/ 

Faye’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fayegelb/ 

Her Legal Global on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/69240862/

OUR FAVORITE HER LEGAL GLOBAL BLOGS

· Interviews with First Generation Lawyers on Success in Law https://www.herlegalglobal.com/first-generation-lawyers-on-succeeding-in-law/

· Pivoting Your Legal Career https://www.herlegalglobal.com/9-tips-to-pivot-your-legal-career/

· Becoming a Resilient Lawyer: What that Means, Why, and How! https://www.herlegalglobal.com/6-steps-to-being-a-more-resilient-lawyer/

 Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

Yes, this title is purposefully corny. Personal injury attorneys are often viewed advertising first, and not in a good way. Think ambulance chasers. Or “all ad spend, no customer service.” These firms do exist. When Sean Park markets though, it’s through building referrals and word-of-mouth. He picks clientele with the same mindset as him; not those asking “how much is my case worth” but rather “how can I rebuild my life.”

Key Moments:

Behind the scenes of those big-ad-spend PI firms (07:07)

Drawing in clients with marketing, not advertising (13:13)

Technologies that help Sean manage a practice in multiple states (22:39)

What Sean Park wants to see changed in the legal industry (30:10)

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“I've got good relationships with clients; [we] will text about politics, will text about college sports…. The end of the case is not the end of my relationship with that person or that family. It is merely the closure of one chapter and moving on to help them rebuild their life.”

“I don't want cases where someone's calling me saying “what's my case worth” because that's not the motivation for why you're pursuing these claims. While I'm in business to make money, obviously, and for a livelihood, I do that by doing good work for clients and being very aggressive in the litigation side of things.”

“I've looked at cases where other firms have turned [the clients] down…. Stories are compelling to me…I don't ever like telling someone “no” or turning them away without giving them at least a good thorough explanation as to why I turn the case down or giving them options as to how to pursue the case on their own or…obtain closure.”

CONNECT WITH SEAN PARK

Sean Park is a skilled and caring personal injury attorney who uses a very personal approach to zealously advocate for clients who have been seriously injured or killed in car accidents, truck accidents, and medical malpractice cases

The Park Law Firm: www.seanparklaw.com

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

Developing powerful SEO for your law firm doesn’t mean catering to the robots at the cost of the human being. Attorneys can differentiate their practices, help people, and gain backlinks. Chris Dreyer explains SEO, new options for attorneys, and offers case examples of brand and law firm marketing that offer personality robots could never mimic.

Quick answers to hot questions:

What is SEO? (09:35)

On-site SEO & Off-site SEO (11:46)

What’s working right now for law firm marketing (19:32)

The 3 funnels of content explained (24:22)

How long for SEO results (27:26)

What Chris Dreyer sees for the future of legal marketing (40:25)

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“We were looking at different strategies to bring exposure to a firm, but also to acquire backlinks… We wanted to kind of be a win-win all-around approach and one of the things that we did was we would offer a scholarship to either a local community or nationwide….[Financial aid pages] would link back to the listing, not because they thought they were doing SEO but because it was good for the consumer.”
 

“You first have to be able to at least know the basics and the foundation in order to evaluate if the SEO specialist you're working with is even doing a good job. And you need to be able to speak the same type of language and understand those KPIs and goals that everyone's striving for because SEO is not immediate like Google ads.”
 

“It is the most challenging circumstance when [law firms] don't have something that's different. It makes it really hard for any type of marketing to have the extreme effectiveness that it could have.”

CONNECT WITH CHRIS DREYER

Chris Dreyer is the President and Founder of Rankings.io, an agency that specializes in personal injury lawyer SEO. His agency ranks personal injury firms for the most lucrative keywords in your industry with end-to-end SEO, from content creation to technical optimization.
 

“Most personal injury attorneys struggle to rank at the top of the search results. That’s why I’m here: I help elite personal injury law firms generate motor vehicle and serious injury cases through Google’s organic search results.” Chris Dreyer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdreyerco/

Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/

KEEP READING

"Fireproof: A Five-Step Model to Take Your Law Firm from Unpredictable to Wildly Profitable" Mike Morse
https://www.amazon.com/Fireproof-Five-Step-Unpredictable-Wildly-Profitable-ebook/dp/B088X41PPP

“The Tribes We Lead” Seth Godin; TED Talks (February 2009)
https://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_the_tribes_we_lead

“SEO for Lawyers” Chris Dreyer; Rankings.io
https://rankings.io/seo-for-lawyers

“The Ultimate Guide to Google’s Local Service Ads” Mark Irvine; WordStream (13 January 2021)
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2018/06/11/google-local-service-ads

“YouTube Video Ads for Law Firms: Case Study & Results” Zahavian Legal Marketing 
https://www.zahavianlegalmarketing.com/youtube-ads-for-law-firms-case-study/

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

Family law is rife with emotion. Michelle Lawless kept that in mind when she built her solo family law practice, after a 19-year tenure at a successful Chicago family law firm. Balancing kindness with efficient processes, Michelle explains how technology, which is usually on the wrong side of the ‘good for mental health’ equation, actually makes difficult family matters easier to emotionally handle. It’s just a bonus that it keeps her solo venture moving full speed.

Key moments:

Attorney assisted mediation and collaborative law (05:16)

Crafting a kind and effective intake process for family law clients (21:42)

“The Daley Center is a daily education”: Building experience in family law (28:26)

What Michelle Lawless wants to see changed in the legal profession (39:37)

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“[Mediation has] been a growing trend…. Clients want an alternative to litigation… Litigation is emotionally difficult. It can be protracted and inefficient [and] incredibly expensive.”

“Clients have told me how difficult it was to almost get up the courage to walk into a divorce lawyer’s office for a console. Because, physically, it was a manifestation that their marriage was over, and that that was a really difficult step to take…. [Because of this] I was kind of thinking about, ‘are there ways to do Virtual Counsel,’ and then boom COVID hit.”

“I'm using online forms to capture information that you need in every divorce case but you don't want to keep asking people for, like the names and the ages of their kids and the birth dates….Making things easier on clients was something that I was really looking to do.”

“I always prided myself on providing personalized service, and being there for clients, listening to them. Getting back to them quickly, as quickly as I can…. As a solo I think that's even more critical because it's me. I mean, the business is me. So, I need to provide almost… I look at it like a better client experience. Because I am the client experience. A hundred percent.”

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE LAWLESS

Michelle has spent her entire 20-year career assisting high-net-worth individuals and their spouses by protecting and preserving their assets during divorce. After spending 19 years with one of the most prominent family law firms in the country, she opened her own law practice in 2020, where she is able to take her in-depth training and experience with executive compensation packages, valuations of closely-held businesses, and other complex, hard-to-value assets and income streams to her own practice.

She is a graduate of the American Bar Association's Advanced Trial Advocacy Institute focusing exclusively on business valuations and has also been named one of the 10 Best Attorneys in Illinois for Outstanding Client Service by the American Institute of Family Law Attorney (2017-2019). Michelle is a past recipient of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's "40 Under 40" award and holds certifications in Collaborative Law and mediation.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellealawless/

Michelle’s Firm: www.malfamilylaw.com

CONTINUE EXPLORING

“Family Law Mediation: A Response to the Rising Pro Se Tide” FamilyLawyerMagazine.com; 8 November 2019 
https://familylawyermagazine.com/articles/family-law-mediation-a-response-to-the-rising-pro-se-tide/

“The Battlescars of Family Law” Michelle Lawless; 11 November 2020
https://www.malfamilylaw.com/blog-2-2/p5lqojvv0fl1dmbm6jo1uw7oetdaai

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]