Community Corner
How Wolf & Shore Law Group Provides "Full-Service" Legal Advice
Attorneys Shari Shore and Kristen Wolf tell Patch how Wolf & Shore Law Group's top-notch representation helps clients. [SPONSORED]
Wolf & Shore Law Group is a full-service, award-winning legal firm in Hamden with a focus on family and divorce law. The all-female team provides expert legal advice to its clients and ensures personalized service for each individual case. Through compassion, integrity and dedication, Wolf & Shore Law Group will help you get the freedom you need to take back control of your life.
Patch caught up with attorney Shari Shore to get the inside scoop on Wolf & Shore Law Group's special services and practice areas.
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Patch: Tell us about the Wolf & Shore Law Group staff and their backgrounds.
Shore: We have two attorneys/partners at Wolf & Shore Law Group (myself and Attorney Kristen Wolf). We also have two paralegals, and at least one intern at any given time. I went to Albany Law School, of Union University, in Albany, NY. Attorney Wolf went to Quinnipiac University School of Law. I went to undergrad at University of Rochester and Attorney Wolf went to UCONN. Both of our paralegals obtained their paralegal certificates from Branford Hall.
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Patch: Wolf & Shore Law Group prides itself as a “full-service” law firm. How does it accomplish this?
Shore: Based on our experience, we have developed procedures to help our clients have a “complete” experience with our representation. For example, we recommend that our divorce clients meet with accountants, business valuators, and/or financial planners, as necessary, so that they are prepared for life after a divorce (for example, how to save for retirement, work on a budget, determine the best way to file taxes during the divorce, etc.). We also handle a few practice areas, even though we focus on family law. That means that when we have a client who we represented in a divorce, and then he buys a house, we can represent him in the closing. We always recommend that a divorce client revise, or draft, an estate plan as well. We can also represent them in that. Down the road, they may need to refinance their home, or may have a need for a post-judgment matter, and we can work with them there as well.
Patch: What are the firm’s practice areas, and how did you come to select them?
Shore: Our main focus is family/matrimonial law (divorce, custody, child support, alimony, post-judgment modifications, contempt matters, high asset divorces, restraining orders). We also handle residential real estate closings, estate planning matters, and custody, guardianship, and termination of parental rights matters in both juvenile probate courts, as well as child protection and delinquency juvenile law matters. Over the years, we have narrowed down the areas in which we practice to focus more on the areas we enjoy and the areas that we have found often overlap for our clients.
Patch: What advice do you offer to spouses seeking to initiate the divorce process?
Shore: We can’t offer advice to spouses (jointly), nor do we technically offer advice specific to any matter prior to being officially retained. However, our general recommendation to a potential divorce client is the following: Take some time to “get your ducks in a row” — sometimes that means thinking through your priorities, looking at a budget, meeting with a financial planner, etc. Other times, it means assessing when your children will be switching schools and determining if one parent can afford a current mortgage, etc. Also, when seeking an attorney, it is imperative that you find someone that you feel comfortable with from the start. A good attorney-client relationship is paramount to a successful divorce because you do have to be able to share intimate details of your life and trust the advice the attorney is giving you in return.
Patch: How does the firm distinguish itself from area competition?
Shore: We are (unintentionally) an all-female law firm. I think that this is appealing to some female clients because of a “girl power” concept. I also think that it is appealing to some male clients because there is often a belief that female attorneys will be more compassionate, understanding, etc. It’s also still an old stereotype that women get more in a divorce and I think that having a female represent a male (to some clients) makes them feel as though they have a “leg up.” Additionally, we have developed a variety of procedures over the years, as mentioned I earlier, to keep our clients fully informed, explain different options to them and make sure that they are set up, as much as possible, for success after the divorce.
Patch: How has the legal industry transformed over the years? How does the Wolf & Shore Law Group law firm stay ahead of new developments?
Shore: Technology has definitely transformed the legal industry over the years. We have updated our procedures/software/hardware and document/client management software so that we can have fully digital files, work “in the cloud”, easily e-file court documents, which is now required in family law cases, and, also at the same time, have increased our cyber security measurements so that we are not only compliant with ethical standards, but we know that our client’s information is safe and that we have easy access to it at the same time.
Patch: Tell us about Wolf & Shore’s proudest moment(s).
Shore: Attorney Wolf and I have helped to develop a program called the Legal Entrepreneur Series through the Connecticut Bar Association Young Lawyers Section and have worked to prepare seminars over the last few years, free of charge, to attorneys just starting out on their own (regardless of age), to provide them with valuable information as to how to successfully start, run, and market a law firm.
Patch: How does Wolf & Shore Law Group measure success?
Shore: We measure success by the happiness of our clients. We understand that we work with our clients during some of the hardest times of their lives and if we can do anything to make it easier for them, we think that we can call that a success in and of itself. It is incredibly rewarding when a client comes back to thank us and tells us that we took some of the burden off of them, eased their minds, eased their pain, etc.
Patch: What are the perks of managing your own law firm?
Shore: We can control what type of law we practice, in which courts and what type of clients we represent. We can control our own schedule, our own staff, and almost every aspect of how we handle our cases. We have the ability to mold our methods in a way that we think is most beneficial to our clients and we don’t need someone else’s permission to change course if something isn’t working.
How can Patch readers contact you and learn more about Wolf & Shore Law Group?
Shore: They can visit our website for more information about our firm and they can contact us at 203.745.3151 or email us.
This Patch article is sponsored by Wolf & Shore Law Group
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