Do Attorneys Help or Hurt?

The answer is:  "It depends." (Would you have expected me to say anything else?  Really?).  Attorneys who blindly accept their client's position, who don't attempt to understand the family dynamics, who don't attempt to understand where the other party is coming from, make things worse, much worse.  In order to help clients here in the trenches, you need to understand people and relationships.  You also have to understand that there are two sides to every story, and that sometimes one side or the other is not an accurate reporter because their emotions are so intense that they read interpersonal cues incorrectly.  If you take your undoubtedly overwrought client at his or her word and act on that, then instead of helping your client, you make the whole situation worse.  Lawyers are trained to fight - it's after law school that we learn how to avoid the fight if it helps our clients.