Editorial
Front Page - Friday, December 4, 2009
Divorce attorney works to bring the best results
David Laprad
Jennifer Lawrence, managing partner of the Chattanooga law firm Lawrence & Lawrence, doesn’t want to toot her own horn. But it’s not hard to find people willing to sing her praises.
“Jennifer provided great guidance throughout a difficult process,” says Frank Burke, owner and president of the Chattanooga Lookouts, by phone. “She was sensitive to what I was going through and accommodating when what I wanted to do didn’t match her recommendations.”
Steve Rich, a retired OB/GYN, also offers kind words about Lawrence. “Jennie is a fabulous lawyer,” he writes via e-mail. “She has tenacity, wisdom and the ability to get things done no matter what the job, and she does it all with her unmatchable charm.”
Finally, there’s Morty Lloyd, pastor of Chattanooga Church and owner of Wedding Chapel of Chattanooga, who commends Lawrence for always being well prepared for a trial. “Jennifer is an excellent trial lawyer. She does her homework and studies her cases thoroughly,” he says by phone.
These well-known and respected citizens have something in common other than an association with Lawrence: divorce. And, as Burke says, Lawrence steered them through what was undoubtedly one of the hardest times in their lives.
“The fear of the unknown is the scariest thing,” she says. “I’m sure my clients feel the same way I do when I go to a doctor and I’m waiting on the results.”
It must be reassuring, however, for a client to have Lawrence in his court. Not only is she celebrated in Scenic City for her skills as an attorney since 2002, she’s been listed in “The Best Lawyers in America,” the oldest peer review publication in the legal profession for family law. In addition, she’s a Fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation, a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and a recipient of the Distinguished Women of Chattanooga Award (1990).
In addition, Lawrence routinely handles complex, high-risk litigation. Notable triumphs throughout her 26-year career include a $10.5 million jury verdict in a personal injury case and a $1 million settlement in a wrongful termination matter.
“I have good instincts and judgment,” she says. “People think they want a lawyer who’s aggressive, but being aggressive is easy. I’ll take a risk, but based on my instincts and judgment.”
Although Lawrence has a sterling reputation as a litigator, she settles most of her cases, which is how she says it should be. “There’s something wrong, either with the lawyers or the clients, if a case goes to trail,” she says.
At the same time, Lawrence says she likes trying cases. “If you really study for an exam in college, then taking the exam is fun,” she says. “When I’m well-prepared, I have fun.”
Many of the issues with which Lawrence deals are far from pleasant, however, as the nearly empty box of tissues on the far edge of her desk suggests. Child custody remains a large bone of contention in divorce cases, as does the distribution of property. New trends are popping up as well, such as the provision of health care and more older couples dissolving their lifelong unions.
“I’m seeing more and more people who have been married 30 or 40 years getting a divorce, and they have the same emotions as people who have been together for less time,” she says.
Lawrence certainly hears her share of sad stories, but she knows it comes with the territory. “Everybody who comes to me has a problem. No one has asked me to help him figure out how to spend the money they won in the lottery,” she says, laughing.
Her laughter breaks up the snowy day quiet of the building in which she, her husband and one other lawyer work. Located on 8th Avenue across from the Dome Building, the stately structure, with its tall rooms, ornate walls and plush furniture, once served as Chattanooga’s first library. Lawrence and her husband salvaged it from bankruptcy in 2002, six years after starting their joint practice.
Lawrence took a long road to striking out on her own as a lawyer. After graduating from Auburn University in 1976 with a Master of Arts and a Master of Science in speech pathology, she moved to Chattanooga to work at The Speech and Hearing Center. She then ran the Marion County Speech and Hearing Center for three years before returning to Alabama in 1981 to obtain a Juris Doctor degree from Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham.
The Leitner firm (now Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan) in Chattanooga hired Lawrence out of law school, and in time, made her its first female partner. She worked at Leitner until she and her husband launched their own
practice.
Today, the work Lawrence does encompasses not just family law and litigation but also civil rights, employment law, medical malpractice, personal injury, products liability law and sexual harassment. Although she’s licensed to practice in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, she works primarily in Hamilton County.
Lawrence says practicing law didn’t come easy at first, but she liked it and stuck with it. And she still takes pleasure in what she does, despite the long hours and hard work. “I’d do it again. Being a lawyer allows you to make a difference. I hope I have.”
Dr. Liz Kennedy Thomas, a physician in Chattanooga, says she has, but not just as an attorney. “From a legal standpoint, she’s a wonderful advocate. When she’s representing you, you feel comfortable. But over my 15 years of knowing her, she’s become more than that to me. She’s become a wonderful friend. She’s someone who will always be there for you and do everything she can to take care of you.”
Lawrence couldn’t have said it better herself.
|
|