The walls at the office of attorney Angela Larkins might need another coat of paint, but that’s okay. She’s just happy to have some walls to call her own.
For the last seven years, Larkins, a seasoned family law attorney, has worked out of a rented 900 square foot space behind a dumpster on the North Shore. While she liked practicing alone, space was tight.
“At one point, I had four full-time employees,” she says. “Mediations were crowded.”
Now Larkins and her staff of two have room to spare in a building on Hixson Pike: 4,000 square feet, to be exact, giving her room to grow, should she ever choose to. “I have no specific plans to expand,” she says. “My paralegal and I both have two kids, and we can spend time with them more easily by operating on a small scale.”
One other thing has changed besides the walls: Larkin no longer has a landlord. “Being able to buy this building was one of the things that attracted me to it,” she says, smiling.
Larkins also likes the ample parking on the west side of the building, having easy access to downtown, and the visibility. “I didn’t have a sign at my old place,” she says. “Now everyone who drives by can see I’m here.”
While some people questioned the wisdom of moving, Larkins no longer wanted to be downtown. Her clients don’t live there, she says, and with the clerk’s office implementing online filing this year, she’ll have fewer reasons to go to the courthouse.
One thing hasn’t changed: Larkins is wholly devoted to family law, with emphasis on the financial issues surrounding divorce. “Every once in a while, I’ll get a wild hair and think I’ll do a personal injury case, but I decide not to,” she says. “The only thing we know how to do is get divorced.”
Larkins might be joking, but she takes her job seriously. “This isn’t easy work because divorce is devastating,” she says. “But that’s what keeps me on track. My clients need help, and I know I can help them.”
Larkins represents clients in a multitude of matters ranging from child custody and visitation, to child and spousal support, to property division, among others. She’s also available as a mediator, and is able to put together prenuptial and cohabitation agreements.
Whatever the matter, Larkins encourages using an attorney. “Few people can reach an agreement on their own, and a mediator can’t offer legal advice,” she says. “Divorces involve a lot of technicalities, and a lot of things can affect your leverage, so you need an attorney.”
Although Larkins provides representation to clients, the dissolution of a marriage is more than a legal challenge to her; she’s intrigued by the personal aspects of divorce. “I’m always curious about what has happened in a marriage,” she says. “I wonder about what has brought them to that point.”
Despite the often tense and emotional nature of divorce, Larkins enjoys what she does. “My background is in finance. I did tax audits for my dad while I was in law school, and when I graduated, I was planning to do transactional work. But when I did a divorce, and I realized it was half numbers and half counseling, I liked it” she says.
Larkins isn’t as fond of the physical work involved in setting up her new space, located at 3837 Hixson Pike. But that’s okay, because she’s happily married to Paul, a trained architect who makes a living in construction. “He’s not quite done, but he’s fixing it up nice and pretty,” she says, smiling again.
Larkins says her practice has not only made her sensitive to what her clients are going through, it’s also cemented her resolve to do what she can to hold her family together. “You don’t know what’s happened in other marriages, and so you can’t know what’s going to happen in yours,” she says. “I just know how hard, and how devastating, divorce is for everyone involved, and I want to do whatever I can to make sure it doesn’t happen to my family.”
For more information, contact Angel Larkins at (423) 648-6622 or angela@legalacl.com, or visit www.legalacl.com.
By David Laprad
The walls at the office of attorney Angela Larkins might need another coat of paint, but that’s okay. She’s just happy to have some walls to call her own.
For the last seven years, Larkins, a seasoned family law attorney, has worked out of a rented 900 square foot space behind a dumpster on the North Shore. While she liked practicing alone, space was tight.
“At one point, I had four full-time employees,” she says. “Mediations were crowded.”
Now Larkins and her staff of two have room to spare in a building on Hixson Pike: 4,000 square feet, to be exact, giving her room to grow, should she ever choose to. “I have no specific plans to expand,” she says. “My paralegal and I both have two kids, and we can spend time with them more easily by operating on a small scale.”
One other thing has changed besides the walls: Larkin no longer has a landlord. “Being able to buy this building was one of the things that attracted me to it,” she says, smiling.
Larkins also likes the ample parking on the west side of the building, having easy access to downtown, and the visibility. “I didn’t have a sign at my old place,” she says. “Now everyone who drives by can see I’m here.”
While some people questioned the wisdom of moving, Larkins no longer wanted to be downtown. Her clients don’t live there, she says, and with the clerk’s office implementing online filing this year, she’ll have fewer reasons to go to the courthouse.
One thing hasn’t changed: Larkins is wholly devoted to family law, with emphasis on the financial issues surrounding divorce. “Every once in a while, I’ll get a wild hair and think I’ll do a personal injury case, but I decide not to,” she says. “The only thing we know how to do is get divorced.”
Larkins might be joking, but she takes her job seriously. “This isn’t easy work because divorce is devastating,” she says. “But that’s what keeps me on track. My clients need help, and I know I can help them.”
Larkins represents clients in a multitude of matters ranging from child custody and visitation, to child and spousal support,
to property division, among others. She’s also available as a mediator, and is able to
put together prenuptial and cohabitation agreements.
Whatever the matter, Larkins encourages using an attorney. “Few people can reach an agreement on their own, and a mediator can’t offer legal advice,” she says. “Divorces involve a lot of technicalities, and a lot of things can affect your leverage, so you need an attorney.”
Although Larkins provides representation to clients, the dissolution of a marriage is more than a legal challenge to her; she’s intrigued by the personal aspects of divorce. “I’m always curious about what has happened in a marriage,” she says. “I wonder about what has brought them to that point.”
Despite the often tense and emotional nature of divorce, Larkins enjoys what she does. “My background is in finance. I did tax audits for my dad while I was in law school, and when I graduated, I was planning to do transactional work. But when I did a divorce, and I realized it was half numbers and half counseling, I liked it” she says.
Larkins isn’t as fond of the physical work involved in setting up her new space, located at 3837 Hixson Pike. But that’s okay, because she’s happily married to Paul, a trained architect who makes a living in construction. “He’s not quite done, but he’s fixing it up nice and pretty,” she says, smiling again.
Larkins says her practice has not only made her sensitive to what her clients are going through, it’s also cemented her resolve to do what she can to hold her family together. “You don’t know what’s happened in other marriages, and so you can’t know what’s going to happen in yours,” she says. “I just know how hard, and how devastating, divorce is for everyone involved, and I want to do whatever I can to make sure it doesn’t happen to my family.”
For more information, contact Angel Larkins at (423) 648-6622 or angela@legalacl.com, or visit www.legalacl.com. v