Matt Interview Transcript 2

MA: Now that is the first step really in my opinion, to sort of take a survey of other folks and see what they have found. Now another thing that I think is smart to consider is the North Carolina Bar started decades ago a specialist program and that is a program where a lawyer can voluntarily seek a specialization certification through the North Carolina Bar. There are a number of specialization programs that a lawyer can receive. There is a family law specialization certification, and most lawyers that have secured the specialization certification are not bashful about identifying themselves as family law specialists. I am a family law specialist, there are a number of specialists in Charlotte and that process is challenging, it is not easy. It requires subjective endorsement so to speak, or critiques by other lawyers in the community, by judges, it requires a challenging written test that has to be taken up in Raleigh, it requires a certain number of years in practice, five years at least in practice focusing on family law and it requires that the lawyer focus their continuing education classes that we are all required to take on family law matters. And if a lawyer is certified as a family law specialist that is a pretty good indicator that they know what they are doing. Now, all of what I have just described, and cut me off if I’ve gone on too long on this question but it is a very important question, I think it is a decision people need to take very seriously; all of that is focused exclusively on finding somebody who knows what they are doing, who can do family law and is competent in that practice area. In my opinion that is not the end of the analysis though in finding your family law attorney. Because as important as finding a lawyer who knows what they’re doing, is finding a lawyer who’s personality and style click with you. And that is really really important because these sorts of cases are incredibly difficult, they are incredibly emotional, they touch on just about every emotive nerve a person can have. They typically involve your relationship with your children, your relationship with your hard earned money, or your retirement, your on-going income and these things are issues that impact people very intimately and it’s important to have a lawyer with whom you agree and in whom you have confidence because if you don’t have a good relationship with your lawyer what is already a difficult case can become virtually impossible to get through if you and your lawyer are not paddling in the same direction. So I think it is a two-step process really, I think you need to identify people in your location who are competent in the subject matter and that can be done through the mechanisms that I have described. The second step is going out and talking to some of these lawyers. You go interview them, you run your case by them, see with their feedback is, they are called legal opinions for a reason, the law is not a math problem. At its essence it is a social exercise it is a situation where different cases can be viewed differently by different lawyers and different judges and it’s important that you have confidence in and you can see them as your advocate, potentially going to court and fighting for you. If I were in that situation I think the first thing I would do is identify those that know that subject matter and then I would pick three probably, maybe four and I would go talk to them and check them out and see if I can envision them as being my advocate in court, somebody who I would have faith in and confidence in to get me through what typically is one of the very most difficult situations a person can go through. So I think that is the answer to a short question with a very long answer, I apologize.

BH: no Matt that really is very important I think with any kind of legal cases that you get an attorney that you feel comfortable with and someone that you know is competent and since we are on radio be sure to kind of pull the microphone up and remember that you are talking to the listeners here if you need to pull up the mic to you or whatever let’s make sure our listeners can hear you. So here’s a question that I have always wondered about: In what circumstances can a person get an annulment rather than a divorce?

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