What Should I Do?

Life here in the Trenches is full of choices.  Some are little choices, and some are life altering.   The choices that are made are the client's.  What we do in the Trenches is make sure the client has all the information necessary to make the choice, reality test the options, and advise on the advantages and disadvantages of any course of action.  For us to really help the client, however, we need as much information as possible.  Some of that information is what we gathering the discovery process.  Some of it, however, is known only to our client.  For example, in a recent case, the largest asset of the marriage was the spouse's deferred compensation plan, which plan paid out only once the spouse actually retired.  That's not an unusual situation.  My client wasn't interested; my client wanted monthly payments starting today and ending at social security retirement age, which after taxes would equal her share of that deferred compensation plan.  Each spouse was adamant on the form of their payout: the spouse, because there was no need for him to come up with any cash; my client, because she wanted the income now.  My client and I discussed and discussed this issue, and I was at a loss to understand why she was willing to give up that retirement income in lieu of monthly payments in the form of alimony now.  That is, until she told me that she has a long family history of a serious disease, and that because of this disease, it is extremely unlikely she will survive until her spouse decides to retire (and he would probably not retire early because he knew of this disease).  For her, it was more important that she have the money to live on now, rather than an expectancy that she might never realize.  She knew herself and her family history, and with that piece of information, I was able to meet her where she was and advise her with full knowledge of what would be in her best interest.  Without that information, my helpfulness would have been limited, or I might have advised her to take a different path.  It's vital that those of us in the Trenches really get to know our clients; not just the case and the problem before us, but the client himself or herself.  That knowledge makes the difference between our being effective and ineffective.  No piece of knowledge is too small if it helps us understand what makes the client tick and makes us more effective advocates.  Here in the Trenches.