Family lawyers face threats, violence, survey says.

Practicing family law may initially sound like a warm and fuzzy occupation, but it's not. In fact, it's emotionally charged and fraught with danger. Just ask the law partner in Chicago who packs a pistol, the country lawyer who is confronted by an ax-wielding client, or the Oregon attorney who hides a number three wood golf club behind his door--just in case.

The American Bar Association's Family Law Section found out about these defensive practices and more in a survey it recently conducted on violence directed toward family lawyers. The results were disheartening at best.

Of the 253 lawyers responding to the questionnaire, 152 indicated they had been threatened by opposing counsel's client. Twenty-four had been victims of violence at the hands of opposing counsel's client.

Forty-three indicated they had been threatened by their own client, while 7 said they had been victims of violence at the hands of their client. Ninety indicated they had never been threatened or victimized by opposing counsel's client or their own client.

Sixty-two of the respondents indicated that they have taken special precautions to ensure their safety, such as installing panic buttons and security systems. The majority--188--said they have done nothing.

Chicago attorney Michael Minton, who chairs ATLA's Family Law Section, said the ABA survey results did not surprise him. "The percentages seemed about right to me, and I've been practicing family law for 27 years," he said. "In fact, within 5 years of practicing, I could answer yes to all the survey questions."

Minton agreed that family law is dangerous, primarily because in divorce and custody proceedings, the practitioner is often seen as the one who creates the stress and profits from it. "Then, if the lawyer and the court can't settle things, the client will often decide to settle it," he said.

Another reason clients may turn on their lawyer is that they need to blame someone, and it's easier to blame the lawyer than themselves or their estranged loved one, Minton added.

Many family lawyers also unintentionally put themselves at higher risk because they tend to ignore clients who begin to verbally intimidate or threaten them, Minton said. "A family lawyer has got to turn right around and march back into court and put those threats on the record with the judge, because many of them occur outside the courthouse after a proceeding has gone against the client."

Minton said family lawyers must try hard to maintain a sense of professionalism, responsibility, and accountability toward their clients, no matter how heated the situation becomes. "This means establishing realistic goals and objectives at the very first meeting," he said. "If clients tell me they want all the money in the world or that they expect child custody but they work 70 hours a week and travel, I tell them straight up that they aren't going to get it.

"If you tell clients from the get-go what they need to hear--not what they want to hear, everyone concerned will be better off," Minton said. "Family lawyers are there to provide a reality check in the heat of a battle in which good people are at their worst."

Copies of the ABA survey are available from Lisa Schrader at [phone].