As good as cash! (?)

One of the unexpected perks of this new law practice (can you believe it's almost a year old now?), is that people actually appreciate what we do.  Since we began, we lost one case that we believe we should have won but, most of the time, we've been able to accomplish our clients' goals. 

We've drafted agreements (co-parenting, artificial insemination, domestic partnership, etc.), we've defended gay parents' rights to overnight visitation with their kids, we've helped them better protect their families in this hostile state (Wills, Powers of Attorney, guardianship, etc.), and we've represented clients in actions against discriminatory employers.

To our delight, we've received many thank you notes and cards.  The following is an email we recently received and is representative of what people have said.

We would like to personally thank you and Mary for doing the work that you do.  For over a year, [my partner] and I have tried to find a lawyer who understood our needs. Our search was fruitless and we were left feeling very confused and rather defeated by the legal world.  I just can't explain how great we felt leaving your office. Protecting our family [is] more important to us than anything else.  Your work is helping us find piece [sic] of mind.  Thank you for that.

We like to get paid, don't get me wrong.  But this type of payment is almost as important to me.  This is the type of psychic reward that motivates us to go the extra mile.