Family law is difficult, messy terrain. We love it, however, for one simple reason – it matters.  Family law deals with the toughest stuff of life – protecting your house, your pension, your entire future, and most importantly, your children.

Decoupling, whether from a marriage or a domestic partnership, is nearly always a traumatic event that no one plans for any more than they do a car accident.  Surviving the process is, for most people, decoupling’s foremost challenge.  And for us lawyer folk, helping to clear the path so that you can thrive again is the craft of decoupling.

I decided to create the Decoupling Blog for two main reasons:

First, I want to simplify the forms and rules regarding family law actions in King County.  Sometimes the forms and rules are so complex that even us lawyers routinely screw them up.  One Court Commissioner recently told me that he was astounded that pro se‘s (folks without lawyers) ever successfully navigate their own divorces at all.  I recently became Chair of the Local Rules sub-committee of the Family Law Section of the King County Bar Association (try to say that three times fast!), so that I  could help make our county court rules more logical, more intuitive, and more simple.  Eventually, this should help both lawyers and non-lawyers navigate this area of law.  It’s a big job, however, and in the end, the judges make the rules, not me.  In the mean time, I want to help people understand not only what forms they need but also what these forms do.

Unfortunately, many lawyers actually like complex rules.  Sometimes, I am afraid that this is true because lawyers believe that complex rules give them job security.  However, people ought to hire family law attorneys for our insight, experience, pragmatism, and willingness to fight for a fair result – not because of byzantine court procedures.

Second, while family law is very serious business, I want to encourage clients and attorneys to stay positive and light-hearted.  Cases seem to flow much smoothly when neither the clients nor their attorneys take themselves seriously.  Plus, clients who keep their sense of humor throughout the decoupling process usually land on their feet, ready to move on to the next chapter of their life.  Much of the divorce-related humor I see, however, tends to be cynical, mean-spirited, and worst of all, not funny.   It’s my goal to inject some levity into this difficult subject, while still being respectful to all involved.

This blog is a service of Rao & Pierce PLLC.  I thank my partners Tom Bao Pierce and Katy Banahan for their support, for showing me every day how to be a better lawyer, and for never taking themselves too seriously.

Decoupling seeks, above all, to be useful and insightful.  Let us know how we’re doing, and please let us know if you find any expired links or information that you think is incorrect.

Cheers,
Christopher Rao
Managing Partner, Rao & Pierce PLLC