Lawyer Monthly Magazine - February 2020 Edition

50 WWW.LAWYER-MONTHLY.COM | FEB 2020 An Interview With My story into Family Law I have wanted to be a family law attorney since about 1990. The short, and least sad, version of the story is: when I was about nine years old, my parents split up and started divorce proceedings in a small town off the shore of southern New Jersey. Fast forward about two years with a lot of tragedy and heartache in-between that many fractured families face, I was left with the choice of who did I want to live with. My sisters had already left to live with my father, but I – being the youngest – was the last piece of the puzzle that never really fit fully on one side or the other. Hence, I singlehandedly saw the difference the lawyers made in how each of my parents fared in the court system and I decided then that I wanted to be the best lawyer I could to help kids who were in a similar situation. My favorite aspect of my role My favorite aspect of my role now is when I have a client whom I feel is not making good choices, or is using my services to simply wage war and not for the benefit of their children. I, inevitably, at some point will tell my client (to quote Cher), “Snap out of it!” I share my life story with my clients to try and help give them a chance to see the process and what they are doing through the eyes of their children, which is often the wake-up call they need. My toxic tort experience and why I returned to family law Yes, that is true and it is not a euphemism for Family Law either! For a year, I traveled the country taking depositions and learning basic litigation techniques by defending large international corporations in toxic tort litigation. At the end of the day, I knew it was always my passion to practice family law and if I was going to work 14-hour days, I wanted to spend my time doing something I was passionate about. before there is a finding by a judge. Take a parenting class. Take a weekend class about how to discipline young children appropriately. Doing those things proactively goes a long way and I have yet to see a judge count it against a parent when they do these types of things to benefit their skill set. Have you ever had a client take a position that you refused to advocate for? Yes. I can think of two cases where the client just absolutely refused to vaccinate their children – at all – and I knew that I could not in good conscience make that argument to the Judge, so I withdrew from representation in both instances. LM About JulieMcAlarnen