Whole Lotta Choices

Recently, on the "San Diego Living" TV program, Board-Certified Family Law Specialist Garrison "Bud" Klueck and Attorney Kimberly Kirkpatrick talked about the large number of choices people have in their family law case and those offered by their firm.

QUESTION - Our Board-Certified Family Law Specialist Bud Klueck is back with us again. Bud is here with one of the other attorneys in the law firm. Bud, whom did you bring with you this morning?

ATTORNEY KLUECK’S ANSWER– This is attorney Kimberly Kirkpatrick. Kim was here once before and we are here to discuss choices and options for folks with family law issues or legal problems.

QUESTION - Most people don’t know that there are several courts involved in family law, tell us briefly what they are?

ATTORNEY KIRKPATRICK’S ANSWER - Well, there are three different types of courts that make decisions about the care and custody of children - family court, juvenile court, and probate court. Folks don’t generally realize that. Family court handles essentially dad vs. mom type custody issues, juvenile court involves cases where there is alleged child abuse or neglect, and probate court involves people, other than the parents becoming guardians for the children, like grandparents.

QUESTION - And you need attorneys with expertise in each type of court, does your firm have expertise with all of these courts?

ATTORNEY KLUECK’S ANSWER– Yes, we’ve done hundreds if not thousands of family law cases along with many cases in juvenile court and guardianships in probate court.

QUESTION - What should people be looking for in hiring a family law attorney?

ATTORNEY KLUECK’S ANSWER– Well, it’s kind of my mission in life to tell them that they have many choices, not just among lawyers, but sometimes within the firm itself. For example, we have male and female attorneys, we have a Certified Specialist, and we have a variety of billable rates. But the methodology itself is most important. You need to match the family with the right methodology because there’s so many choices. We actually have a poem we like to say: "Litigation, Mediation or Collaborative Law, Divorce is No Longer One Size Fits All".

So there are many choices - 1. Litigation - the old fashioned, go to court method, 2. Mediation - involving a trained neutral third party, like myself, with more than a year of special training, 3. Collaborative Divorce - which is a team approach with a mental health and financial planning aspect added to the mix, and 4. Cooperative Divorce - which is similar to Collaborative Divorce, but allows you to kind of pick and choose the additional elements (like - financial planning) to include.

QUESTION - It’s important to choose an attorney that you feel comfortable with and who is accommodating to your needs - how do you make sure that you choose an attorney who is comfortable with exactly what you’re looking for?

ATTORNEY KIRKPATRICK’S ANSWER - In our firm, we have 3 different attorneys and 3 different paralegals, which is a pretty high ratio of paralegals to attorneys. And paralegals are to attorneys like nurses are to doctors, they’re professionals in their own right but with different roles. Ultimately, having 6 different professionals in our office gives potential clients lots of choice over who they would like to work with. And it allows us to pride ourselves on getting back to clients in a timely manner - whether through e-mail, telephone, etc. - whatever they’re most comfortable with.

QUESTION - Sounds like an excellent place to entrust your family law case. Thank you Kim and Bud. If you want experience and an approachable attitude towards family law, call Bud or Kim at their office. You should contact them in the firm's main office in La Mesa, near San Diego State, or any of the four satellite offices around the County - La Jolla, North County, downtown or South Bay. Just call the number (619)-448-6500 or access the web site directly at www.familylawsandiego.com or through the link at the San Diego 6 website.

Options and choices!. Great topic Bud, as usual.