It’s been an intense couple of weeks. After a slew of mediations and meetings, I settled five of my divorce cases in two weeks. Five of them. Settled. That means five clients who avoided trial. Five clients who were able to reach agreements with their spouses on all the issues of their divorces. Five clients who saved a lot of time, money, and heartache by finding fair and reasonable ways to end their marriages without needing a judge to decide the issues.
For me, settling cases is one of the highlights of my professional life as a divorce attorney. Another highlight is happy clients. Luckily, the two go hand in hand: settling cases means happy clients. The reality is that the vast majority of divorce clients don’t want to go to trial. The way you avoid trial in a divorce case is by reaching a settlement that is agreeable to both sides. That’s why I remain laser-focused in my cases – from the very first time I talk to a potential client – on how we can reach an equitable resolution to the issues in my clients’ cases. That focus guides me and my clients every step of the way, and I believe it goes a long way toward maintaining my track record of settling almost all of my cases.
This may all seem like a given; what divorce attorney wouldn’t want to settle their cases? But my 20-years of experience as an attorney have taught me that many don’t. Why? Maybe they like the fight. Maybe they like that an attorney can make a lot of money out of a long, drawn-out case, especially one that goes to trial. Maybe both. But make no mistake: both of those reasons are based on what’s good for the lawyer, not what’s good for the client. And when the good of the lawyer takes precedence over the good of the client, you get unhappy clients. And when you gauge your professional success and sense of fulfilment on making clients happy, unhappy clients means you failed.
I would love for you to be my next settled case. My next happy client. Call me for a free initial consultation: (248) 457-4566. Or you can email me at peter@pgbplc.com.
