“That has to be so stressful.” Is a common response that you hear when you tell someone, “I’m a divorce attorney.” It’s true to some extent that Oregon divorce attorneys and family law attorneys find themselves in the middle of taxing and high conflict situations. It’s an unavoidable part of representing people when their children, their homes, and their financial future are at issue and when great passion and affection has been interrupted by any number of hurtful circumstances.
With all of the conflict and consternation in this field, we are often asked “Why do you practice family law?”
As Oregon family law attorneys, we see people when they are really in need of assistance. We find people when they don’t know what is next for them, how they’re going to survive, or if they ever have a future at all.
If people are coming to us, they’ve either been through a very difficult period in their lives or they are going through a very difficult period in their lives.
Navigating the court system and a family law case can be overwhelming when you’re also dealing with the impact of the end of a relationship or a major change in your family system.
So, what makes someone want to be a family law attorney?
For our attorneys, it is the opportunity to give people hope, the ability to see a better future, helping them get back on track, and watching them take control of their lives so that they can seize the opportunities that lie ahead.
The actual mission statement of Schantz Fanning, P.C. is as follows:
Protecting our clients and empowering them to improve their lives with a team that values honesty, compassion, and a work life balance.
We protect our clients rights and advocate for their futures, but also protect them from themselves and help them find constructive ways to cope with the emotions that they’re experiencing.
We recognize that we won’t be there to help them through every situation, but strive to give them to tools and knowledge to stand up for themselves and take control of their lives.
We give them the most accurate and honest feedback that we can, even if it’s hard to hear because their journey will be harder and possibly unsuccessful if we’re not giving them the right map through this maze.
We recognize the pain and anguish that they’re experiencing and listen to them so that they feel heard and acknowledged.
And we take care of ourselves so that we’ll be able to care for our clients and identify with the issues in their lives that we’re trying to so hard to protect.
All of these efforts hopefully result in our leaving our clients in a better place than we found them. When faced with the battle through stress and conflict, we know that our reward is being able to see someone on the other side after they’ve been through the darkness and are off into a bright new future.
