Basic Differences Between A Family Law Attorney & A Divorce Attorney

 

Once I visited a self-proclaimed best family law firm in California where I was told that in reality, divorce is a subdivision of family law. A divorce lawyer is a family law attorney who facilitates a divorce. Maximum attorneys who practice family law handle divorce cases too and divorce is ideally the fundamental or main subset of work that a family law attorney does. However, a family law attorney normally does more than divorce.

 

A leading family law firm in Los Angeles states that family Law comprises divorce, child custody, child support, spousal support, paternity for proving the legitimate father/child relationship, adoption, guardianship, orders of protection and many other things.

 

A lawyer who executes Family Law also should not be confused with the California Family Lawyers that you come across regularly. The designation, family lawyer, is not so much a term of art like family law attorney is. It is more of a process an attorney may describe himself/herself focusing his/her practice on families. A Family lawyer may practice family law but is also likely to do other things that could include real estate, planning estate, forming a business, criminal law, personal injury and other things.

 

In a layman’s term, a person holding himself/herself out as a family attorney could be suggesting that he/she represents families, executing things like handling estate planning and estate administration, real estate, family businesses and others.

 

Before you zero in on an attorney, it is better to be well aware of some of these variations. How attorneys hold themselves out, also suggests something about the attorney. For example, a family law attorney who recognizes as a “divorce attorney” is definitely aware of the less than favourable, hardline implication of the term, divorce attorney. A person who holds himself/herself out as a divorce attorney could imply that he/she embraces that hot-tempered, rough and tough image that the term divorce attorney suggests to most people.

 

On the contrary, if someone holds himself/herself out as a “family law attorney” could be implying that he/she is a little more holistic, larger picture focused and resolution orientated. There are clues in the processes that describe themselves for us to interpret.

 

While referring to the best family lawyers in California, we consider divorce attorneys as ruthless litigators. Though, the concept of a family law attorney suggests a more decent, resolution orientated process. Both attorneys do the same task, but they consider different images in the way they define themselves. While family law attorneys and divorce attorneys may do a similar thing, the attorney who represents himself/herself as a divorce attorney may have a contrasting approach than the attorney who represents himself/herself as a family law attorney.

 

The terms lawyer and attorney signify the same thing, but they have different nuances. The term, lawyer, has a less clarified connotation. People crack lawyer jokes, though they don’t share attorney jokes. People who portray themselves as lawyers are identifying with the more common, more elementary concept of the profession. People portraying themselves as attorneys are possibly identifying with the more cultured, polished and professional idea of what it purports to practice law and render legal services.

 

Though it hardly matters how or in which way people identify themselves, the way people identify themselves does give us clues about how they perceive themselves and conduct themselves in their profession. That, in turn, gives an idea as to what a person should ideally expect from the lawyer/attorney who describes himself/ herself that way.

 

Irrespective of the fact, whether someone identifies as a divorce attorney or family law attorney, or as a lawyer or attorney, shouldn’t necessarily decide your choice of the legal service provider, but it should start giving you some clues about what to expect. Conducting your thorough research before making your choice of an attorney to represent you has never been easier with the proliferation of information on the Internet. Make proper utilization of the resources available on the Internet to your best advantage. Do your homework, and choose judiciously with that information at your fingertips.