Why Hire a Professional?

Oh my heavens! It's been a month since I posted.  For both of you who read the blog, I'm sorry I was gone without even a little explanation.  Honestly, I don't have one.  Life just got in the way of blogging.

I worked out with Daughter for the first time in a while.  She's been busy too.  As you know, she has been training me online for well over a year, even though she now lives in town (and for the time being, with me).  Because I'm what Gretchen Rubin calls an Upholder (to find out what you are, take the quiz here), I work out hard without anyone standing over me or reminding me.   I don't need outside accountability to do my workouts.  I've been going on my merry way every month with the workouts Daughter sends me.  She attaches videos to the exercises so I can see how they're done; I study them carefully.  Last weekend, she was with me while I worked out.  For the most part, I did fine, but for three exercises, she had me move a little to the left, point my elbows out to the side more, and lean into the move.  Those little tweaks made a big difference.  The exercises felt different. They were better and more effective.  I really felt the muscle work.  I used to create my own workouts.  Some of them worked fine, but I never knew if I was working all my muscles, or if I was working some to the exclusion of others.  Plus, I only tended to include exercises I really liked.  I could have continued to watch the videos and do OK, but working with a professional made a huge difference in my experience and my result.

For the first time in a few weeks, I was reminded again how life is so much like the Trenches.  Here in the Trenches, there has been a large rise in self represented people.  The internet has made it so much easier to find forms for legal documents and pleadings, so people think that if they just use those resources, they can resolve their marital issues and get a divorce.  I always tell clients that if you just need an uncontested divorce, most people are capable of doing it using the forms.  If all I did was fill out forms, and if all the practice of law involved was forms, most people wouldn't need a lawyer.  Filling out forms is not why people hire lawyers.  They hire us for our advice.  They hire us because we're professionals and we know what issues to look for. They realize that we won't miss an important issue in their settlement.  We know all the little things that can make a divorce settlement meet all of a client's needs.  We can be calm, dispassionate and forward looking.  We know what will work for the future, and what will only patch things for the short haul.  We know how to make the process run smoother.  We know what process will yield the best result for a client.  We can help a client soup to nuts, or just when they need a little tweak or advice.  Sure, they could do it themselves, but working with a professional can make a huge difference in the experience and result, and make the difference between hitting all the bases and forgetting to touch third base.  Here in the Trenches.