Overview
Transcript
Sara Ross: When I first started practicing law, I worked at a big firm in San Francisco, and did anti-trust work and big-business stuff, which was exciting in a lot of ways. Working in a big firm in a big city like that, I really learned a lot about how to jostle with big-time attorneys who can be really aggressive and how to let a lot of stuff roll off my back and work with clients through a really difficult process, but there was something really tangible missing, and I didn’t really know how to put my finger on it until I came home to Boulder.
I realized that what was missing before was the human element, because there’s not a whole lot of room in the law for human beings, except family law, where largely what we’re worried about is the human being and the relationships involved. That’s really special. To be doing something that’s interesting and challenging but also is focused on humans is a big deal. There’s several areas. I do general family law litigation, collaborative family law divorces, and collaborative practice in general, which can be not just divorces but post- or pre-work as well. Child-support work, we do maintenance modifications, parenting time changes, parenting plan modifications, also prenups, and mediation.
The thing that I really enjoy is collaborative law. I feel like it’s an opportunity for people to be empowered and to take control of a really frightening time in their life and to have an opportunity to work with their spouse to transform their family instead of handing that power over to a judge and throwing caution to the wind.
I practice mostly in Boulder, but I also have cases in El Paso County, Colorado Springs, and in Weld County and Jefferson County and in Denver.
I think people’s biggest fear is the fear of the unknown. I think people find, not only is the law overwhelming, understandably, but I think the fact that they’re looking at a change in their relationship with their children, the finances are going to change, that’s all really scary. Through the process of the divorce, it’s designed to help a lot of the unknown become known, but there is a period of time when those things are being figured out that people go through a lot of anxiety as they face the reality that things are going to change. That’s one of the times when I think we come most in handy as being able to translate what the law is and reassure people that they will get beyond this—this is not the rest of their lives—and that they can have some power to work with their soon-to-be-ex-spouse to create something that works for both of them.
I offer a 30-minute consultation and do a lot of consultations over the phone because I think it’s important for people to get a sense of who I am and whether we’re a good match before making a financial commitment.
The biggest compliment that someone can give me is that they’ve been able to move on after working with me to have a really great life, that they’ve got the money they need, they’ve got their relationship with their kids, and that the divorce is now behind them, and they’re able to proceed and be happy.