AllynMarie “Ali” Smedley understands that not all attorneys are created equal, and this is why she and her team at Smedley Law Group go above and beyond in everything they do for their clients.
“We’re a collaborative team, so when you hire the firm, you really hire the whole firm,” Smedley says. “Everybody here knows about everybody’s case. There is always somebody to talk to. You don’t always see that level of communication between staff members.”
At the Woodbury-based family law firm Smedley Law Group, clients are empowered, and that can only be done with top-notch communication and ensuring the client understands the proceedings from start to finish, Smedley explains.
Building trust and transparency
In a divorce, for instance, a client may feel bombarded with paperwork.The court may send paperwork directly to the client without sending it to the attorney, or the two parties may receive things simultaneously. This can leave a client confused and overwhelmed.
To circumvent that potential problem, Smedley Law Group has slide presentations available to clients to explain technical documents, to interpret legalese and to overall break down the process to make things easier to understand.
“It can be intimidating, not knowing the ‘why’ of these things that are happening,” Smedley says. “This is really a way to keep them informed.”
Many clients also come to Smedley Law Group after having a poor experience with a previous attorney, whether it’s a client coming mid-divorce or someone who needs help post-judgment for a particular issue. Regardless of the why, the Smedley team is ready to rebuild that client-attorney trust.
“We do that by being transparent, by giving them all the information,” Smedley says. “I’ve had people say, ‘I wish I knew about you when I was getting divorced. I would have definitely used your firm instead.’”
No cookie-cutter solutions
The team at Smedley Law Group understands their No. 1 job is to establish their clients’ priorities and protect their future. Tailored, personalized solutions are the firm’s norm.
Two clients may come in with the same set of facts—they are both a W-2 wage earner with kids, a house and retirement assets, for instance—but are seeking very different divorce settlement outcomes.
“Everybody’s got something different that matters to them,” Smedley says. “One person might not care about the house at all and wants to maximize retirement assets, while another may say, ‘I want to stay in this house until the day I die.’”
Without knowing what those specific client goals are, resolutions cannot be tailored to their needs and wants.
“Just because the situation might be the same, the goals are inherently different,” Smedley adds.
Personal service
If Smedley—or any other attorney on her team—is working a case and needs help, they strategize together. It all goes back to that team approach that is so important at Smedley Law Group.
This also means that, if for whatever reason a lawyer may not be available, there are others who can step in. A client is never, ever left in the dark.
“You’re getting the benefit of more than one practitioner and getting that higher level collaborative service,” Smedley says.
Emotions run high during a divorce, and Smedley and her team are there to help guide a client through those tough times. Divorce proceedings require flexibility—especially when children are involved—and that’s not always easy for a client to remember. But the Smedley team is there to remind its clients of this important fact, in the most professional and compassionate way possible.
Because compassion also comes first at Smedley Law Group, from the first phone call to a post-judgment situation. And this compassion, for most at the firm, comes from a very personal place. Almost everyone at Smedley Law Group has dealt with divorce in some capacity, whether they themselves are divorced or they are a child of divorce.
“That gives us a unique position because, on a base level, we get it,” Smedley says. “We get what it’s like.”
Smedley Law Group
Woodbury
(856) 251-0800
SmedleyLawGroup.com
Click here to subscribe to the free digital editions of South Jersey Magazine
To read the digital edition of South Jersey Magazine, click here.
Published and copyrighted in South Jersey Magazine, Volume 21, Issue 8 (November 2024)
For more info on South Jersey Magazine, click here.
To subscribe to South Jersey Magazine, click here.
To advertise in South Jersey Magazine, click here.
