Evolution Chapter Two: Collections to Family Law

Chapter One is here.

From Food Stamps to Child Support

After completing my training as a paralegal, I changed desks and departments from Division of Benefits & Medical Eligibility to Division of Child Support Services.

I mostly handled past-due child support collections, and later became responsible for child support order modifications.  I became very familiar with how to research policy and procedure in order to obtain a just and fair result for all the parties involved.  I worked closely with a branch of the Attorney General’s office  and became fluent in attorney management, which has stood me in good stead with my clients.

From the Government to the Private Sector

I spent six years with the state, and then an opportunity presented itself to work in the legal branch of a collections agency.  Yes, I’m familiar with the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.  I trained collectors in the cans and can’ts of their job and acted as an unofficial floor monitor for compliance. (“No, you cannot threaten to come and take their goldfish.  No matter how angry they make you.”)

When I decided to join up with a law office, it made sense to handle family law and help attorneys untangle marital contracts.  My first encounter with personal injury was in the context of a divorce.

Resourceful Solutions

My boss’s client was a long-haul trucker who had suffered traumatic brain damage in an accident.  He looked fine, but had the judgment and impulse control of a three year old in the body of a grown man.  His wife, after coping as best she could with the result, finally had enough and filed for divorce in their then home state.  We’ll call it “Elbonia.”  To save on expenses, they had a paralegal prepare the documents.

The paralegal divided the settlement money in half — the economic damages, the loss of earning capacity, the pain and suffering.  You see the problem here, right?

Husband subsequently moved on his own to Arizona, and a neighbor, who was helping him track expenditure and income, smelled a rat.  He brought the gentleman’s case to my boss’s attention.

Boss took one look, and said, “You can’t attribute pain and suffering to another person — that’s indivisible and belongs to the injured party.  Beth, reach out to the Elbonian personal injury attorney and get me details of the settlement so we can fix this.”

This was before Internet connections were as common as staplers.  I had the Elbonian attorney’s name, but not the firm he worked with.  This was also several years following the personal injury settlement, so the gentleman could be anywhere.  I picked up the phone and tried information.

They had a number, but it was unlisted.  I did not want the guy’s house; I wanted his office.  I hung up and was pondering my next move when I noticed the Arizona Bar Directory sitting on my desk.  I turned to the Elbonia pages, and began smiling and dialing.

Three calls later, I had found an Elbonian attorney and tickled his curiosity.  He grabbed his copy of the Elbonian Bar Directory, and gave me the number of the attorney I was hunting for.  Winding up the call, he asked how I found him.

I explained that he was licensed in Arizona, so I simply used the bar directory.  “Think outside the box, and use the tools you have,” I concluded.

I now have a standing lunch invitation, should I ever find myself in Elbonia.