Featured Clients

This month, we talked with Christine Bauer—a family law attorney that has been with our Southwest Orlando office for nearly seven years—about her business and managing to find a balance between work life and family life.

Tell us about your company. What services do you provide?

We are a law firm and we provide many legal services but mainly provide services for divorce, child custody, paternity, child support and other family law matters. Josh Martell, Esquire the other attorney in the office also handles criminal matters.

When did you originally found your firm?

We started the business in November of 2007 and have been here at this location ever since. We have grown in size and we occupy more space than we used to but have never moved office locations.

Did you work with any other firms before starting your own firm?

I worked in the DC area for a large firm that had 500 attorneys and for a small law firm in Montgomery County Maryland.

What made you want to start your own firm?

The type of law that I wanted to practice does not lend itself well for large firms. Most people who practice primarily in the area of family law either have their own firm or work within a small office.

What do you like best about running your own firm?

I like the ability to choose which cases that we are going to take and which cases we believe either don’t need the assistance of counsel or should have a different person to represent them.

What’s the most challenging part of running your own firm?

The stress of day to day business operations. Being your own boss means that you are responsible for all aspects of your business which means running the business.This can be very stressful and time consuming.

What have been some of your most challenging cases?

All cases with children are challenging. There is a saying in family law that family lawyers see good people at the worst and criminal lawyers get to see bad people at their best. When emotions are in involved, sometimes it is very hard to make rational and good decisions. Often times people can’t get past what happened to bring the marriage to the point of divorce and that clouds their ability to make unemotional decisions about children. It’s the hardest issue to deal with by far.

How do you find a balance between work and family?

I have great staff, a wonderful husband and the best nanny. Without help, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I am always struggling with the balance, but most often I feel like I’m able to have good quality time with my family despite my crazy work life.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

I am an avid sports fan. I am from Syracuse so we are obsessed with the Syracuse Basketball program. I’m also a huge baseball fanatic. I’m a Rays fan and we try to go to as many games as we can.

What quote or saying do you live by?

CS: With respect to my professional life, I always like the quote “love your kids more than you hate your former spouse”. For those who have been through a divorce, I’m sure that quote resonates on some level.