Introduction

• Author: Samuel V. Schoonmaker IV
• Position: Issue Editor, Editorial Board member, Family Law Quarterly
• Pages: vii-vi

vii

Becoming a Family Lawyer

There are over 1.3 million family lawyers in the United States, but only

a small percentage of them become family lawyers. What combination of

attributes and skills allow a family lawyer to thrive? What training and

mindset should a practitioner inject into a family dispute to improve the

outcome?

This Summer 2019 issue of the Family Law Quarterly focuses on some

of the approaches, strategies, and tools that transform a lawyer into a

successful family lawyer. Extensive knowledge of family law is critically

important, but there is much more to this mosaic. Largely intangible

tools enable attorneys to resolve cases effectively even as they endure

the personal and professional perils of family practice. When soliciting

authors for this issue, we asked that they walk a fraught tightrope between

legal scholarship and common sense. We reached out to authors who write

simply and creatively about complex topics.

A natural starting point for this issue is a contribution from Gregg



  The Role of a Family Law

Attorney in Settlement Negotiations, Herman explains how responsible

lawyers can help clients achieve favorable settlements and at the same time

serve the long-term interests of everyone involved in a family dispute. He

explains why representing a client in a family case is unlike representing a

client in a personal injury or criminal case. A good family lawyer chooses

the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or other tools best suited for the

circumstances.

The second article examines a regrettably familiar subject for family

 

cases. In     

Family Court, Esther Rosenfeld and Michelle Oberman review literature



They offer pragmatic strategies for lawyers involved in these seemingly

intractable cases.

In Surviving Family Law: A Thinking Lawyer’s Guide to Tranquility,

Fearlessness, and Freedom, author Steven N. Peskind explores the

complex emotional challenges family lawyers encounter in their roles as

advisors, counselors, negotiators, and advocates. Drawing in part on Stoic

and Eastern philosophy, Peskind offers simple and effective strategies for

Published in Family Law Quarterly, Volume 53, Numbers 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2019. © 2020 American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion

thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.