Practitioner Testimonial

Practitioner Judith Flamenbaum

Judith Flamenbaum went into law practice in her 50s because she wanted to help victims of domestic violence. 

As a former schoolteacher and mother of two grown sons, Flamenbaum switched careers in order to protect families caught in abusive relationships. Her years spent teaching in city schools showed her the extent of family violence and taught her to spot its telltale signs. Meanwhile, law school educated her how to use the law to free the abused partner from brutality.

But nothing in her prior experience taught her how to run a profitable solo practice.

That is why Flamenbaum joined a practitioner network run out of City University of New York School of Law, her alma mater.

The practitioner networks, which were created at CUNY Law School, University of Maryland Law School, and Northeastern University Law School, are part of the Law School Consortium Project. The Project aims to increase access to justice by supporting law schools to expand their educational and institutional mission beyond graduation to include support and service to solo and small-firm practitioners who are committed to serving low and moderate-income individuals and communities.

Now she has a network of like-minded attorneys whom she can call to ask any question - legal, procedural or administrative. "The practitioner network allowed me to be a member of a law firm," she says. "Because of the help I get from the practitioner network, I do not have to reinvent the wheel each time I do something new."

Flamenbaum takes referrals from domestic violence not-for-profit agencies, such as Sanctuary for Families. Her clients, mostly middle-to low-income working women, do not qualify for free representation and often, can not afford a lawyer. Generally, only people who are on public assistance qualify for free counsel. She charges her clients on a sliding scale, depending on their income, and structures payment schedules that work with their particular situations. She also works on a couple of pro bono cases at all times.

"Most people think it is only poor and immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence. This is simply not true. Domestic violence exists all the way up the economic scale," she explains.

Not long after Flamenbaum opened her practice, she was quickly inundated with clients seeking orders of protections, child support, custody and divorce. And as her practice grew so did her administrative duties. "We are all too busy practicing and neglecting the business part," she says. 

Although she had many victims who were desperate for her help, the business was crumbling. The client bills were not being sent out in time and the clients were not paying. She was asking for too small retainer fees, not pushing clients to pay and billing only for half of the time she actually worked. Toiling all alone, was quickly becoming too overwhelming too sustain. "There were times when I was just falling to pieces," she recalls. 

The attorneys in the network and the network staff taught Flamenbaum how to bill, how to keep her records, how to collect her fees and how to treat her practice like a business. And once the business end of her practice was running more smoothly and professionally, she was able to represent more victims who desperately needed her help. 

Before joining the practitioner network, Flamenbaum was turning some cases away because she felt that she could not manage them on her own. Just as her clients had no one to turn to, neither did she.

The practitioner network provided her with like-minded lawyers who were willing to listen and help. Her practice became more efficient, more sane and more rewarding.

"The lawyers in the networks taught me a lot. I don't panic anymore because I have someone, somewhere that will be there for me," she says. "A group of us have become very friendly. We're always in contact with each other, helping each other out, discussing things, trading information, talking about cases," she explains. 

"I probably would not be in practice without the practitioner network," says Flamenbaum. "The practitioner network has given me self-confidence to know that I can do it. That is invaluable. The network is very important for me and for my clients. By being more confident I am able to provide better service."

Written by Victoria Rivkin, a freelance writer in New York City