Don’t Be Your Own Divorce Lawyer….. #1

This is the blog post I did not want to write. Why give away something I have every right to charge “real money” for. Besides, the “powers that be” and “administrative people” of the West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals are diligently working, at least from my perspective, to diminish those remaining services that small-town lawyers can perform. Why help them?

Although I admire and respect our West Virginia State Bar officers and personnel, who bear no responsibility for earlier decisions which have created the present “legal crisis”, and deeply respect everyone in our WV Supreme Court, the “institutional momentum” is based on the premise that people in rural West Virginia cannot afford to pay for legal services. Instead, they are encouraged to “do-it-yourself” or to get help from “understaffed”, “underfunded”, and a nearly overwhelmed, WV Legal Aid, or “pro bono publico” volunteerism.

I feel bad for current law school graduates who plan to practice law in WV. Except for the “plum jobs” that not everyone can find, the “pickens” in our rural communities are often “pretty slim”. Just look at how many attorneys are listed in a particular county on Google Maps and how many of them can afford a decent website or web presence; darned few!

Just as the “ramps” that are still abundant in WV this time of year, something “smells” in the environment of the small town and city WV lawyer.

Come to think of it, I shall postpone the “hated post” to the next one!

This post was written by Burton Hunter