When Houston family lawyer Susan Myres became president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers last year, she had no idea that her practice area – and that of the entire legal profession – was about to be turned upside by a global pandemic.
Myres, who has practice law in Texas for more than 35 years and is one of the most respected family attorneys in the U.S., said the “impact [of the COVID-19 crisis] has been harsh.”
A recent survey by the AAML found that two-thirds of family lawyers have seen a decline in business during the past four months. But the academy believes that there is a significant spike in divorces coming as a result of stay-at-home orders.
“One of the problems some potential clients were facing was that, while they were stuck at home in close quarters with a disliked spouse, it was very difficult to find the privacy to contact a family lawyer,” she said. “Most of the calls that were coming in dealt either with visitation issues or the need to modify child support. But a significant percentage were from people seeking a divorce.”
Myres said that the COVID-19 crisis has especially impacted divorce cases involving business leaders in Texas and their spouses regarding the issue of determining valuation of assets in a turbulent financial marketplace.
“We already know that property valuation in a divorce is going to be very difficult in the midst of a pandemic, an economic collapse, the stark challenges facing the oil and gas industry in Texas, and political turmoil,” Myers said. “We may find that we are crafting agreements with more provisional clauses than is customary to protect our clients no matter what comes next.”
Last month, I interviewed Susan Myres, a graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, on an array of topics, including access to the courts during the period of COVID-19, the increased use of technology and the need for more pro bono lawyers in family cases.
Hodges: Exactly what is the AAML?
Myres: Founded in 1962, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) is an organization of almost 1600 family lawyers who are “vetted, tested and trusted,” as one of our former Academy presidents put it. They have all gone through a series of tests, background checks and peer reviews to join what is essentially a “family” of family lawyers from all over the country with a shared goal of practicing at the highest level of excellence and professionalism for their clients, the courts and the public.
One underlying mission of the Academy is to be able to refer a client with a complex family law matter to any member with complete confidence that it will be well-handled.
Hodges: How many attorneys are members?
Myres: Admission to the Academy is limited to practicing attorneys. We have almost 1600 members. The AAML has members from every one of the 50 states.
Hodges: What is the average size of the firms that AAML Fellows practice in?
Myres: The average size of our members’ firms is about 20 attorneys, but we have members who practice in firms that have 400 attorneys or more, and members who practice in firms with fewer than five attorneys.
Hodges: How has COVID-19 impacted the AAML?
Myres: We sent out a survey in March to see how our members were faring because we thought, if we knew how they were coping, we might be better able to provide the information and support that would be of most use to them and their clients. The results were not scientific, but we did discover that family lawyers’ business had decreased in all parts of the country, not just in areas hard hit by the virus. We have a follow-up survey planned to see if things have changed as the courts reopen or adapt more fully to virtual court processes.
Hodges: How is the AAML adapting?
Myres: In this respect we Texas lawyers are very fortunate. Our courts were leaders in advancing the ability to hold “virtual” hearings. By and large, these hearings cover non-essential matters, but they do help to unclog the calendar down the road. Our courts are empowered to hold these hearings even if one or more of the parties involved object, although sometimes there are legitimate obstacles to proceeding, such as the inability to serve subpoenas.
Academy members who have experience in virtual procedures are offering their assistance to individual lawyers—and even to other states where a virtual system is not yet robust. We suspect that this change to handling some procedures virtually was coming anyway. The pandemic has only hastened it. Virtual court procedures will continue, and may become even more frequent and more routine after the pandemic is gone.
By necessity, highly litigated family law trials, especially jury trials, must also continue and would be difficult or impossible to conduct in a virtual setting. The pandemic has taught us that we can do a lot to clear the path for those trials to have the attention from the courts that they merit by handling routine procedures remotely.
We also published two different sets of guidelines to help separated or divorced parents who are trying to share custody during the pandemic. These guidelines were widely disseminated, used by many, many attorneys and family court systems and stimulated significant media attention. We have urged our members to provide as much assistance as they can to struggling families through website and blog postings and, when possible, by helping to resolve all the unusual disputes that arose as parents struggled to determine the best way to care for their children under these unprecedented circumstances.
Hodges: What has been the impact on you and your Presidency?
Myres: Obviously, this is not the year that I had anticipated for my tenure as president of the Academy. One of the most popular Academy networking opportunities is our Mid-Year Meeting, which always takes place at a wonderful resort. For several years, we had been planning to hold our Mid-Year Meeting this past March at a stunning facility in Jamaica, the Hyatt Ziva/Zilara on Montego Bay.
AAML trainings, courses and chapter meetings in general are also well-attended because of the excellent resources and opportunities to learn and network all over the country. The Mid-Year Meeting and every single other meeting, of course, had to be cancelled or converted to virtual sessions because of the pandemic. And now, on top of the pandemic, we are addressing issues surrounding anti-racism protests and the pressing need to confront old and new injustices.
However, surprisingly, in the midst of the cruel effects of the virus on so many people and the general chaos and upending of everyone’s lives, there were some unexpected opportunities to do some real good. Just about every major national—and even international—media outlet has sought out the Academy because so many parents needed help dealing with the often complex dynamics of negotiating shared custody in a pandemic. We are also at the cutting edge of addressing the turmoil COVID-19 has caused in our businesses, investments, employment and the valuation of our assets. As a result, many more journalists and readers/viewers in general are aware that the Academy exists and is an excellent source of information, both as an organization and because we have access to the collective wisdom and resources of over 1500 outstanding family lawyers throughout the country.
Hodges: What has been the economic impact of the past three months on Fellows?
Myres: I mentioned earlier that the impact has been harsh. Sixty-seven percent of those responding said that business had decreased during the pandemic. One of the problems some potential clients were facing was that, while they were stuck at home in close quarters with a disliked spouse, it was very difficult to find the privacy to contact a family lawyer. Most of the calls that were coming in dealt either with visitation issues or the need to modify child support. But a significant percentage were from people seeking a divorce.
A portion of our members actually experienced an increase in business. Firms that adapted easily to communicating via remote access clearly held an advantage.
Hodges: What are the biggest issues facing family lawyers in Texas?
Myres: As we emerge from COVID-19, we expect that Texas family lawyers, like others across the US, will be wrestling with the rapid buildup of a backlog in the courts of complaints about violations of custody orders, in addition to pent-up demands for a divorce. As the crisis gradually subsides, however long that takes, family lawyers in Texas will be coping with many of the same problems as before, posed by the great social changes of our time:
- information overload from the internet and social media
- new configurations of families and methods of reproduction
- the increasing number of what are called “elder” divorces
- the increasing number of couples living together, creating estates and even having children without marriage
- addiction and disability issues
- international issues
- gun violence.
We could discuss any one of these issues and how it impacts family law for hours. We live in a rapidly changing society and family lawyers will continue to be very nimble and alert to new realities. The Academy plays an essential role by continuing to provide trainings, webinars, booklets and other resources that address our evolving society.
Hodges: Do you expect to see a surge in divorces as a result of the stay-at-home orders?
Myres: Quite frankly, yes. China reported an upswing in divorce when the lockdown ended. However, China put in place a more restrictive lockdown than we did in the US. When the lockdown was lifted, there was an increase in filings at that time.
The calls our members have received indicate that there is pent-up demand here, too. Some US jurisdictions allowed divorce filings during the lockdown and others did not. We need to study the underlying orders to determine if the surge is based on long-time, pent-up demand or on new marital discord. Some couples who had already decided to separate were stuck with each other during the crisis. Others arrived at a resolution to divorce because the lockdown intensified problems that already existed. We have advised some clients that it may be wise to go ahead and file now and get a docket number, rather than end up at the end of a very long line of complex cases.
My firm has also experienced the reverse: four clients decided to reconcile instead of proceeding with divorce!
We already know that property valuation in a divorce is going to be very difficult in the midst of a pandemic, an economic collapse, the stark challenges facing the oil and gas industry in Texas, and political turmoil. We may find that we are crafting agreements with more provisional clauses than is customary to protect our clients no matter what comes next.
Hodges: Is there a need for Texas lawyers to do pro bono work in the area of family law? If so, how do we convince more corporate lawyers to step forward to do this pro bono work?
Myres: Yes, no question. There has always been a great need. And, though pro bono divorces for people with very limited means may not entail complex division of property, that does not mean they may not present other complex challenges. Lack of financial resources has no bearing on whether a case warrants a tremendous amount of work that is highly complex and specialized to family law.
However, there is nothing preventing corporate lawyers from representing individuals seeking an uncontested divorce, or from learning something about the intricacies of family law. We all share the same Rules of Procedure and Rules of Evidence. Any corporate attorney who takes on a pro bono divorce case may reach out to one of the Fellows in the Academy for guidance as needed.
Charlie Hodges is a Dallas family lawyer who specializes in representing business executives, professional sports athletes, doctors and their spouses. Hodges is a regular contributing writer to The Texas Lawbook.