The Challenges of Virtual Lawyering

The Challenges of Virtual Lawyering

by | Jul 19, 2021 | Legal Process

The Challenges of Virtual Lawyering

We are more than a year into pandemic protocols of varying levels, and one thing that seems here to stay is a reliance on Zoom and other virtual technologies that let us connect from a distance.

That’s a good thing, right? We can get our work done, see people’s smiling faces, move things forward without having to leave our homes or risk getting sick. Great.

But at what cost?

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Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

I’m not sure this is due to the pandemic, but I’ve noticed lately that nobody looks in each other’s eyes anymore. There is no real eye contact. Did this occur because of Zoom, where you’re forced to look up at your webcam to come across as looking directly at someone when really you’re not?

Or was it already a habit that predates this unusual time?

Regardless of its origins, when we lose eye contact, we lose human connection.

Personally, while I appreciate all the possibilities that Zoom brings us, I find it distracting – I never know where to look. The mechanics of the technology make me feel more distant from my client, the other attorney, the judge, whoever is on the other end of the conversation.

That does not happen in court or in a conference room.

In those settings, not only can I see whether the other people are looking my way or at something else, I can feel their energy and the chemistry between us.

And so I began to wonder what our relationships lose, and society in general, when we are together less often, and rarely peering into someone’s eyes.

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Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Looking directly into someone’s eyes is an intense, human connection. When people are testing credibility, they question why another person is always looking down or just can’t look you in the eye. Does this indicate they have a hard time being honest or revealing the truth?

Because if you can be secretly multitasking during a virtual meeting, not only are you not looking into someone’s eyes, your mind is somewhere else. Everything is lost.

And there is a chance this won’t get better if companies and professionals continue to work at home.

I’ve spoken to young professionals who think it’s ridiculous to have everyone in one physical place. There is something great about the freedom to work from anywhere, but there is merit in going to the office and not sitting home alone every day. People got dogs during COVID because they didn’t want to be lonely.

A hybrid might work, if during the time we spend in company with others, we really focus on connecting.

As for me, I prefer to meet with my clients and settle cases in person. I believe it’s the best way to know my sincerity, to feel comfortable with the person you’re counting on to see this process through. I owe it to my clients to be front, center, and attentive. And it’s only fair that everyone else involved in their case – judge, opposing counsel, and anyone else – is, too.

It’s easier for clients to obscure details and hide truths when you meet at a distance. I can’t do the case justice if I don’t know everything. We all win when we can truly connect at a deep and honest level.

Good work comes from real connections. In real-time. On a foundation of trust.

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This Is What It’s Like to Work with a Divorce Lawyer

This Is What It’s Like to Work with a Divorce Lawyer

by | Jan 4, 2021 | Family Law

This Is What It’s Like to Work with a Divorce Lawyer

Some clients might wonder what to expect when working with a divorce lawyer. While your case is on your mind 24/7, your divorce lawyer has other cases simultaneously, so it’s helpful to know how the interactions will flow once you choose the lawyer you want to work with.

Step 1: Introductory Meeting

Here, you will get to know one another and learn about the lawyer’s approach to divorce. A good lawyer should offer a picture of how often and by what methods you’ll be in touch.

What if you feel an urgency arise, or have questions?

Is email the best method of communication?

How quickly will the lawyer respond?

What if it’s over a weekend or holiday?

It’s good to establish parameters up front, so you know what to expect when you work with a divorce lawyer.

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Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

Step 2: Gathering Information

It takes time to build a legal case. There will be a lengthy period during which your lawyer will ask for information, paperwork, evidence, and other resources to help build your case.

The more quickly you can gather materials, the more quickly your case will be built. That said, remember that your attorney has many clients and cases, and yours is in the queue!

A Michigan divorce can take anywhere from six months to years. Nothing happens overnight, especially when the courts are involved, but your lawyer should give you an estimate of the time frame for building your case and how quickly he or she can process the information you provide.

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Photo by Dan Dimmock on Unsplash

If your lawyer has to request documents from the other side, then the flow will depend on how quickly they respond and provide the requested information.

Delays can arise – and they are not always within your control or your attorney’s. Try to be patient, even though the case is always on your mind, with questions about how it will unfold.

Step 3: Negotiation

You may have a series of meetings with your lawyer, your soon-to-be ex and their lawyer. These require scheduling four people’s calendars, which can be cumbersome. Again, be patient as it unfolds.

In the negotiation phase, there may be issues to discuss or debate, and there may be need for further information-gathering or fact-finding. Ask your lawyer for estimates of how much time each phase will take, so you have realistic expectations every step of the way!

Time estimates often change once we dive into the details, as we know more about the type of case it is becoming.

Step 4: Finalizing

Once everything has been laid out and agreed to, finalizing your divorce still takes time. Factors can include preparing a Settlement Agreement and Judgment of Divorce with language agreeable to both sides as well as the judge’s availability to approve the Judgment and make the divorce final.

Every step of the way during your divorce, you may be eager to hear back from your attorney on progress and next steps. Divorce lawyers are as eager as their clients to complete the case to everyone’s satisfaction!

If you’re waiting to hear from your lawyer and there is no email or return call, try to be patient. It’s hard, but sometimes they are waiting for response from the other side, or confirmation from the court, and they don’t want to waste your time with empty information.

The hallmark of a good lawyer is open and flowing communication with clients. Trust that your attorney will get back to you as soon as new information becomes available!

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Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm 

Every divorce client feels a sense of urgency to get their case done and decided. It will happen; waiting is the hardest part.

Michigan divorces take a minimum of 6 months to complete. Knowing that is crucial to taking a deep breath and letting the process happen as it should.

Read more Family Law posts

Taking Divorce Virtual

Taking Divorce Virtual

by | Aug 25, 2020 | Collaborative Divorce

Taking Divorce Virtual

How a Jameson Law Manages a Virtual Divorce Case in Colorado

This blog first appeared on the website for the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. Read the original blog here.

In the era of COVID-19, everyone is using virtual meeting software to conduct business. However, my Collaborative Divorce colleagues and I were already doing it. 

A Case Follows Its Clients

This case began in the typical in-person format in Michigan. The husband met with me several times over nine months as he contemplated filing for divorce. Shortly after it became clear that ending the marriage was his next step, he and his wife decided to sell their home and move to another state, where two of their married children live.
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It is not like any case can go virtual; attorneys are bound by the parameters of the State Bar and can only practice in states where they are licensed to do so.

Based on my state’s laws, if my client moved to Colorado and then filed for divorce, I could not represent him.

But he wanted to work with me in a Collaborative fashion on his virtual divorce. Accordingly, we filed in the state of Michigan before they moved, which relegated the case to the state where they had lived during their marriage.

Committed to the Collaborative Process

They agreed to proceed in a Collaborative fashion, and the wife hired Collaborative Divorce attorney, Tucson divorce attorney. We created a team that included divorce financial planner Jacqueline Roessler and divorce coach Judith Margerum. Everyone agreed that this case would be conducted through video conferencing.

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Photo by CoWomen on Unsplash

I assumed the professionals would be together in one place, and the parties in another place, but this did not happen. For scheduling convenience, each professional joined from her own office, and our clients were in their home in different rooms.

As the case progressed, I thought it would be better for the team to gather in person, especially for a pre-meeting and a debrief after the client meeting. As it turned out, due to the pandemic, we connected via our own shelter-in-place locations.  

Meeting Virtually

For the most part, the virtual divorce case proceeded beautifully with Zoom as our means for communication and meeting. There were drawbacks of course. For example, it was harder to take side meetings with a client or team member on Zoom. However, it was possible using the Breakout Rooms feature.

On the positive side, the Collaborative tone remained in this virtual format.

Collaborative Focuses on the Family

As usual with Collaborative Divorce, we were able to focus the process to suit the family. This family was in transition, so we created virtual meetings to accommodate their desire to move, rather than having to wait for their divorce to be final in Michigan.

Another plus is that you can see people’s reactions and responses, which is crucial for the mental health professional on our team. While we cannot read the energy as we would in-person, we can still see, really close up, each face.

And, scheduling meetings is a breeze – no need to plan around drive time or calendar conflicts.

Today’s technologies make it easy to expand our Collaborative world while still getting the same great work done.

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Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash

Here are some tips for making video conferencing work for divorce law cases.

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Pay attention; make sure you are looking at the screen. People often get distracted during a video conference and might look to another screen, thus missing reactions and responses.
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Because everybody is on a computer, the person taking notes can type it on their own device. I could look at the meeting and type while it was going on.
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It is easy to record the meeting for future review. People sometimes forget what they said or agreed to, or perhaps different parties have different interpretations of the proceedings. Having the ability to record the meeting eliminates confusion. Professionals should be aware of the most current privacy standards that apply to them in regards to use of this technology, specifically around recording. In addition, mental health professionals may need to determine whether their technology platform is HIPPA compliant prior to hosting or recording meetings.
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Choose a platform that you’re comfortable with. We use Zoom, but there is also GoToMeeting, AnytimeMeetings, and others. Choose one that offers the option of breakout rooms.
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Be prepared. Learn how to share your screen, know the software, know the technology before the meeting begins.
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Plan your pre-meeting and your after-meeting, especially if professionals are not in the same room. Planning is still very important.

Read more about Collaborative Divorce

The Changing Legal Landscape

The Changing Legal Landscape

by | Aug 11, 2020 | Legal Process

The Changing Legal Landscape

During this time of pandemic shutdowns, legal process and procedure were forced to change.

Suddenly, we had no choice but to practice differently, and the court system had to accept drastic changes to legal processes. The way we always knew to practice law simply does not work in a pandemic.

Is Change Good?

I’ve pondered whether this change prompted all of us in the legal field to become more creative. Or did it just bring us into the 21st century? Are we finally embracing a new face of law that was inevitable, but which we resisted until we had no choice?

This happened in a lot of industries and fields. Companies that did not embrace work-from-home did so quickly and completely to protect the health of employees and clients.

Surprisingly, they found productivity did not wane! In many cases, productivity improved because people were trusted to get work done and do it well.

legal landscape

Image by Ohioduidefense from Pixabay

How Divorce Law Happens

The legal field is an interesting mix of independent and communal work. A lot of my work happens in my office, on my computer, pulling research and precedent and templates to create motions, judgments, and other written pieces of legal process.

There is also work I cannot do alone. For litigation cases, I must appear in court, beside my client.

Their spouse must appear as well, with his or her attorney. We appear in a court room, before a judge, with the courtroom clerk, Friend of the Court representatives and witnesses, too.

That’s a lot of people in a small space. In normal times, there are also other people awaiting their turn before the judge

legal landscape

Photo by Headway on Unsplash

We all show up in a closed room without windows, waiting for our turn to be heard.

That’s just one example of how divorce law can be a very in-person process. But in a pandemic, all that had to change to keep people safe.

We’ve discovered that cases get done anyway, even in totally unprecedented conditions.

I wonder, will divorce law remain a distance activity?

The court has started live streaming legal proceedings out of necessity. Might we continue once it’s safe to gather again?

A New Approach to Family Law

Or, are we finding new efficiencies that we want to keep going forward, independent of public health mandates?

People are historically resistant to change. We know what we know, and we are comfortable in familiar routines.

But change is the only constant, and when something changes, we end up better for it.

There is no question that something is lost when we cannot gather together. But perhaps something is gained, too.

Read more about the Legal Process

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.

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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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