Why You Should Hire a Large Family Law Firm
Selecting the right law firm can significantly impact the outcome of your family law matter. Larger family law firms present a myriad of advantages that often go unnoticed from an outsider’s perspective. Selecting the ‘right’ firm for your case may turn out to be one of your most important decisions.
However, not all large family law firms are created equal.
A law firm is simply a group of lawyers. Average lawyers create average law firms. High-quality lawyers create high quality law firms. Minyard Morris attracts the best lawyers, legal assistants, and staff and any of our team members have worked together for decades. Professionals want to be a part of our team as a result of our stellar reputation for results, quality of work, ethics, and culture. Our clients significantly benefit from the quality of the team we have built since we opened our doors in 1977.
Ten Major Advantages of a Large Family Law Firm
A large law firm offers a number of advantages that a small firm simply cannot offer. The selection of the right lawyer is of paramount importance when facing the challenges that exist in many family matters. The reputation that Minyard Morris has built since 1977 is second to none and was built in part with the following.
1. Quality of Legal Team
Large firms like Minyard Morris attract top talent, including experienced lawyers, legal assistants, and staff. That talent translates into results, quality of work, ethics, and culture ensures. Clients benefit from a high-quality team.
2. Specialized Expertise
Minyard Morris has a diverse pools of legal talent, each with their own areas of expertise and focus. This allows them to match clients with attorneys who possess the specific skills, knowledge, and experience necessary for their unique cases.
One of the most compelling advantages of working with a large family law firm is its ability to match clients with lawyers whose experiences align closely with the specifics of their cases. Each family law matter is unique, ranging from straightforward divorces to complex custody battles or high-net-worth asset divisions. In a large firm, there’s a diverse pool of legal talent, each with their own areas of expertise and focus. This ensures that clients are paired with attorneys who possess the requisite skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to adeptly navigate their particular circumstances.
Diversity is relevant to some clients. Minyard Morris has both men and women lawyers, its lawyers’ ages span each decade from their 20’s to their 70’s, and the heritage of our lawyers includes: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hispanic, Persian, Indian, Italian, Iraqi, Italian and Ukrainian. A number of our lawyers are immigrants and first generation. Minyard Morris believes that our diversity of heritage, religion and thought is a huge asset to our firm’s performance and culture.
3. Variable Fee Structures
Our firm can accommodate clients across various financial capabilities by offering a range of hourly rates. This ensures that clients can select legal representation that aligns with both their needs and financial resources.
Moreover, larger firms can accommodate clients across a spectrum of financial capabilities. By offering a range of hourly rates, clients can select legal representation that not only meets the needs of their cases but also aligns with their financial resources. This flexibility is often absent in smaller firms, where the rates are fixed and not adaptable to individual circumstances and complexities.
How can it make sense for a wage earner client who is seeking a modification of a child support order to pay the same hourly rate as a person who owns a business and is divorcing after 20 years. It cannot and does not. Minyard Morris is able to match its lawyers with the type of case involved and the clients’ needs. In smaller firms, generally all clients pay the same hourly rate regardless of the type of the case or its complexity. A lawyer rarely reduces his standard hourly rate based on a matter being less complex.
It is a total misconception to believe that the fees in a large firm exceed those in a smaller firm. All divorce lawyers know of countless examples where the fees incurred in small firms dwarf the fees incurred in larger firms. A number of factors influence and contribute to the amount of fees incurred. One of course, is honest and accurate billing. Another factor is knowing which path to take strategically to resolve a case. A lawyer’s mentality relative to knowing when to settle and when to go to trial is a huge determinative factor relative to the costs in a case a topic we collaborate on frequently. We have spent many decades perfecting our structure, organization and efficiencies which help us minimize delays and manage attorney’s fees.
4. Resources
We have extensive staff and resources, allowing them to swiftly mobilize and allocate resources to address urgent situations or crises that may arise during family law cases.
We are not a work-life balance firm, we are in the office full time and do not have a hybrid workplace model. We believe that having our lawyers and staff physically in the office on a daily basis makes us more efficient and allows us to provide better client service.
5. Vast Experience
A large firm, like Minyard Morris offers a depth of knowledge, judgment, and insights accumulated over many decades of collective experience. This invaluable reservoir of wisdom enhances the firm’s ability to handle complex family law matters effectively, efficiently, and strategically.
Perhaps the most significant advantage of a large family law firms lies in their cumulative experience. A large firm, boasting a collective experience spanning many decades, offers a depth of knowledge, judgment, and insights that smaller practices simply cannot replicate. Consider a scenario where a firm has only two lawyers versus a firm with 19 lawyers, collectively amassing nearly 300 years of experience. The discrepancy in experience is stark, underscoring the invaluable reservoir of wisdom available in a large firm.
6. Collaborative Environment
We foster a collaborative environment where our attorneys have access to internal resources, mentorship programs, and interdisciplinary collaboration, enriching their expertise and enhancing the quality of legal services rendered all to the benefit of our clients.
The collaboration of our firm is unequalled. We, at Minyard Morris meet, in person, three times weekly, to discuss, brainstorm and strategize our clients’ cases. We have found that our decades old practice of formalized collaboration is invaluable to the results in our clients’ cases. Our clients have the significant advantage of leveraging the decades of experience of our experienced team into better results.
Additionally, the collaborative environment within Minyard Morris fosters continuous learning and professional development. Attorneys have access to a wealth of internal resources, including mentorship programs, case studies, and interdisciplinary collaboration, which enrich their expertise over time. This collaborative ethos enhances the quality of legal services rendered and augments the firm’s ability to tackle complex family law matters effectively.
7. Personalized Attention
Despite its size, Minyard Morris offers personalized attention by assigning clients a specific lawyer who remains their attorney from the beginning to the end of the case. This personalized attention is complemented by the firm’s resources, systems, and efficiencies.
The scalability of a large firm is another notable advantage. Family law cases can sometimes escalate into urgent situations requiring immediate attention. In such instances, larger firms with their extensive staff and resources can swiftly mobilize to address crises. If we need to staff a case with three lawyers at the same time due to urgency, we can do it. This ability to respond promptly can be crucial in averting potential legal setbacks or protecting clients’ interests. Conversely, smaller firms may struggle to allocate resources to urgent matters, as they must balance the needs of multiple clients with limited manpower.
A smaller law firm does not necessarily translate to more personalized attention. When you work with Minyard Morris, you retain a specific lawyer who is your attorney from the beginning to the end. Other than the advantages of a large firm, hiring a lawyer in our firm, is no different than hiring a lawyer in a one lawyer or two lawyer firm. In fact , it is likely the case that a lawyer in the right large firm will provide more personalized attention because of the resources, systems and efficiencies of a more structured firm with added resources.
8. Limited Focus on Family Law
Minyard Morris limits its practice exclusively on family law matters filed in Orange County. Family law cases is our sole priority rather than being one of many practice areas that have access to a firm’s resources.
A larger firm with a family law department and a handful of family law attorneys does not and cannot offer the advantages of Minyard Morris. We do one thing and one thing only. We limit our practice—no exceptions, to family law. The entire focus of our resources and our management is on our family law clients. They are our only priority. In most firms, where family law is just one of their practice areas, family law is a stepchild that is tolerated.
A group of 19 lawyers that limits its practice, not just to family law but, also further limits its practice to family law matters filed in Orange County is but unique and a huge unparalleled advantage. We have multiple lawyers in the courthouses daily and are always aware of the recent developments and changes that occur in the courts.
In larger firms that have offices in Orange County and in other counties, the Orange County office is often an afterthought, experiment or satellite. It is common knowledge that satellite offices of law firms are not treated as priorities or equally, relative to resources or personnel. We have one office– Orange County.
9. Local Expertise and Involvement
Large firms that are deeply rooted in a specific community, such as Minyard Morris in Orange County, offer unparalleled local expertise and involvement. Our lawyers’ active participation in law-related non-profit organizations and affiliated bar associations enhances their understanding of issues relevant to their clients’ cases.
Our lawyers are deeply involved, serving as officers, board members and committee members, in most of the law related non-profit organizations and affiliated bar associations. This involvement has contributed to the respect we enjoy from the Orange County judiciary and further helps us stay informed as to issues that are important to our clients’ cases.
10. Continuous Learning and Professional Development
Minyard Morris’s commitment to investing in the continuous learning and professional development opportunities for their attorneys is second to no other firm which contributes to our clients’ experience with us and the results of their cases.
In Conclusion…
Advantages, from tailored legal expertise and flexible fee structures to rapid responsiveness and unparalleled collective experience, the benefits of choosing the ‘right’ family law firm are manifold. Ultimately, in the intricate realm of family law, the decision to engage with the ‘right’ family law firm can pave the way for more favorable outcomes and peace of mind for clients navigating challenging divorces.
Overall, the advantages of retaining Minyard Morris, include tailored legal expertise, flexible fee structures, rapid responsiveness, unparalleled collective experience, and a collaborative environment, ultimately leading to more favorable outcomes and peace of mind for clients navigating challenging divorces.
Carefully review our website and the websites of other Orange County firms and compare. We think you will see the Minyard Morris difference.