Hello! My Name is Alisa Peskin-Shepherd, and I am a Divorce Lawyer

Hello! My Name is Alisa Peskin-Shepherd, and I am a Divorce Lawyer

by | Sep 28, 2020 | Family Law

Hello! My Name is Alisa Peskin-Shepherd, and I am a Divorce Lawyer

alisa peskin-shepherd

Hey there – you may already have met me on my “About” page or on the bio page of my website listing my experience. If you haven’t, let me introduce myself:

I am Alisa Peskin-Shepherd.

I have practiced family law for more than 30 years, and I love my work.

Why would Alisa Peskin-Shepherd enjoy helping people end marriages, you may ask?

It’s not the ending of marriages that I love; it’s the opportunity to work with different kinds of people and to help people understand themselves and their emotions better. I love making people feel better. And working in family law as Alisa Peskin-Shepherd, attorney and counselor at law, I can do that. The other day, I mentioned to a client that I was thinking about inviting co-counsel into our case who had an expertise that would help. The client said she didn’t want that person joining our team because “she was very cold and she didn’t feel a connection with her” the way she feels a connection with me.

I get it, says Alisa Peskin-Shepherd.

I am the kind of lawyer who wants my clients to feel a connection with me. That makes us a good team in the divorce process.

Some things you might want to know about me:

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I’m not very tall, so when I was a new attorney, I made sure to dress conservatively (and wear heels), so judges and other attorneys took me seriously. It was how I stepped into confidence as a lawyer. I looked younger than my age, but I dressed the part! (I still do. And I love to wear bright colors.)
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I still get butterflies in my stomach before a court appearance. The adrenaline helps me prepare.
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I do a TON of research and preparation. For trial, I use a Trial Notebook to go through the steps and stay organized, so I don’t forget any detail.
divorce
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I love being outside – even more since this pandemic hit! Some days, I’ll leave the office in the middle of the day to take a walk, and my favorite kind of time off is time spent in nature – hiking, kayaking, anywhere beautiful (these days, in Michigan).
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The best part of my work is my clients. I love the one-on-one, hearing their hopes and dreams, and doing what I can to make them come to life.

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Facing Zoom Fatigue

Facing Zoom Fatigue

by | Jul 28, 2020 | Off Topic

Facing Zoom Fatigue

zoom fatigue

Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

Remember the days when we had time before and after a meeting to prepare and process? There was no such thing as “Zoom fatigue” back then, and oh it seems a distant memory!
With all the virtual meetings of the last few months, I’m starting to forget the rhythm of the pre-pandemic work day. While I prefer in-person meetings, I am becoming more comfortable conducting business remotely.

Building a New Normal

There is really no choice! We spend our days now on Zoom or FaceTime because it’s the only way to be with others, safely.

Recently, I had a conversation with some colleagues about how we are so much more tired at the end of a day now. And yet, we haven’t gone anywhere!

So why are we so tired? 

Understanding Where Energy Comes From

I posed this question to a colleague who specializes in Co-Parenting counseling, Jordana Wolfson. A social worker, Jordana explained that it takes a lot of energy to participate in virtual meetings because we cannot pull energy from others in the room.

People-to-people interactions have an energy that we miss when we sit alone at the dining room table. That’s why co-working spaces like WeWork became so popular.

Millennials and Gen Z professionals were already comfortable working remotely. They were good at staying connected with friends across the country via video chat. Professionals of a certain age (like me!) did not grow up with this.

Drained by Zoom fatigue, we are realizing just how much energy we draw from being in the same space as others.

zoom fatigue

Jordana Wolfson, social worker
Co-Parenting Solutions LLC

Will This Be Our New Normal?

This may be a new face of work going forward, even after the pandemic ends. But we must find ways to fuel daily energy without depending on others in the room.

Maybe the new normal will be more about balance – finding a balance between working from home and being at the office, spending time with family and friends versus being a workaholic, eating out vs. eating at home.

Perhaps we’ll be more selective with how we choose to spend our time, drawing energy less from the work day and more from life itself.

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