When I Grow Up

I suspect most children do not make the determined statement that they want to be a divorce lawyer when they grow up.  Often I am asked why this was my choice.  When I was a little girl, I would have said that I wanted to be a teacher, I wanted to win an Academy Award for acting, I wanted to be a pilot of the SR-71 only because my Dad told me girls could not, or I wanted to help people.  It turns out that in being a divorce lawyer I am fulfilling all the career aspirations I held as a young girl.

I teach my clients thoroughly about the divorce process. I endeavor to partner with my clients and explain each step because for my clients this generally leads to their empowerment.  The more control and clarity they feel over the process, the better they are able to make sound decisions regarding very challenging choices.

As a lawyer, I satisfy both, my creative and competitive natures in the courtroom.  I adopt my client’s story as my own and as my client’s mouthpiece, I become a version of my client.  I act out my client’s story for the Court and am able to use all of the strategic thinking and persuasion skills I honed in law school.  It is a craft.  No story is the same and it is a constant challenge.

I meet regularly with men and women who are struggling in their every day lives. Whether a person initiates or responds to a divorce, they are facing every single part of their life changing.  No area remains untouched from a divorce action.  Parenting, family relationships, finances, friend networks, personal belongings, a residence, job performance – just to name a few areas that effect how an entire personal world is altered in divorce. My job is to help people navigate through an uncertain, difficult journey. My job is to help.

So now I say with pride and childhood intentions fulfilled, I am a divorce lawyer.

Angela Dunne