Alabama Family Law Blog

I am frequently asked by prospective divorce clients if I will be aggressive... or a pit bull... or a shark.  They phrase it differently.  But, many folks facing divorce think that what they need is the most aggressive divorce lawyer in Alabama (or whatever jurisdiction they happen to be in).

In my years of divorce practice I have seen lots of lawyers handle divorce cases.  There are as many different styles as there are different lawyers.  But, I have also noticed three recurring styles of lawyer in particular.  I call them the lamb, the pit bull and the fox.

The lamb is the lawyer that just sort of goes with the flow.  They are reactive, not proactive.  They want to avoid confrontation at all costs and that means they also want to avoid going to court at all costs, even if it means convincing their clients to settle for significantly worse terms than they should.  The lamb may even be afraid to try the divorce case. He will rarely, if ever, tell his client that he should not sign a settlement offer that is being extended from the other side even if that offer is clearly inequitable.  Thankfully, there are not a lot of lambs that last very long as divorce lawyers.

Much more prevalent is the pit bull, who is exactly the opposite.  They hate to settle cases.  In fact, some of them won’t do anything proactive to try to settle their divorce cases.  It is almost as if they take some type of perverse joy in seeing the “blood running in the streets.”   The truth is that often they do this simply to develop and maintain a reputation as “Bad Leroy Brown…baddest man in the whole damn town.”  When a spouse is angry and in the emotional stage of wanting to exact revenge, they want to be the name on everyone’s lips when that aggrieved spouse asks their neighbor who is the meanest SOB in town.  And, so they work hard to maintain that reputation because it makes them a lot of money.  

The sad part is that acting like a pit bull is rarely, if ever, in their own client’s best interests.  Of course, the pit bull’s main concern is not their client. If you know anything about pit bulls, you will know that they are very aggressive and vicious. But, they are not thinking animals.  They act only on instinct.  When they fight, they not only destroy the dog they are fighting, but by their own actions hurt themselves and anything else around them (which often includes their own client’s and their client’s children).

The pit bull is aggressive for the sake of being aggressive, not for any long-term benefit it brings their client.  Often people going through divorce will think they need an aggressive lawyer to represent them in their divorce.  They are wrong.  What they need is a lawyer who is assertive.  There is a difference.  It is the difference between the pit bull and the fox.

The fox is wise and cunning.  He sees the big picture.  The fox is assertive when he needs to be, compromising when it benefits his clients’ long-term best interests, and always aware of the many different consequences his actions have on his clients.  He stands on principle. Yet, he is a strong advocate for his client when it promotes his client’s long-term best interests.  He recognizes that reaching a fair settlement is always preferable to trying the case and leaving it up to the judge.  Yet, he also knows that if a fair settlement is not forthcoming, then he must be willing and able to prepare to effectively litigate the case in court.

When choosing a divorce lawyer, you should avoid the lamb and the pit bull at all costs.  Instead, find yourself a fox.

I've been thinking about this post for a few days. I think you're right on when you say that the "lamb" and the "pit bull" are not effective attorneys in divorce cases.

I'm not so sure, though, about the description of the right attorney as being a "fox." I worry that someone will expect a fox to be more cunning and looking for loopholes or other ways to take advantage of an unsuspecting opposing party or attorney.

You're right that a good divorce attorney knows a good settlement is always preferable to trial, and that good lawyers keep their eyes on the big picture and a client's best interests--often, as well, the children's best interests. You're also right in pointing out that if the other side is unwilling to strike a fair bargain, going to trial must be done.

So, I guess my only quibble is the description of good divorce attorneys as being "foxes."

The problem, though, is that I'm drawing a huge blank when I try to think of a different animal that fits the description nicely. Anyone else have any ideas?

I would think a more appropriate metaphorical animal might be an owl. Wise, patient, able to see through the dark. Not afraid to swoop in for the kill in the exact right moment. Walrus is also good in that they do violent battle, but rarely hurt anyone, but ... well who wants to be a walrus?

I think you hit the nail right on the head. These three styles of lawyers apply to all types of legal areas.

A good friend of mine, who does insurance defense work, told me many years ago that his clients keep a list of plaintiff lawyers who they know will never go to trial and those that will. Those that won't (lamb) will almost always settle on the courthouse steps for next to nothing.

Those that will try the good cases and settle the bad ones (fox) will get substantially better results either through good negotiations or better preparation and trial techniques.

As for the pit bull, he also said that they fair better than lambs but nowhere near as good as the fox. He said this was because they were more interested in looking good than in actually being good, and thus were not as prepared as the fox.

We've seen this in our small business law practice as well. In fact, we keep a list, just like my insurance defense lawyer friend's clients, and have come to the same conclusions.