From Devon Reid
42 • Oakland, CA • Family Law Attorney • Solo Practitioner
“I went to law school to be a voice for fairness. Lately, I feel like a crisis manager with a law license.”
Most people assume lawyers are cold. But the truth is, most of us got into this to help. Especially in family law.
What I didn’t expect was how hard it would be to manage everything behind the scenes: clients who don’t read, courts that delay everything, opposing counsel who file like it’s a sport, and judges too overwhelmed to care about nuance.
It’s not the law that burns you out. It’s the inefficiency. The emotional floods from clients at 11 p.m. The paperwork that disappears mid-case. The same parenting plan dispute showing up in four different email threads and three text screenshots.
I charge flat rates now. Not because I don’t value my time, but because I’m tired of clients feeling tricked by the clock.
Someone from my CLE class mentioned Splitifi. I brushed it off. I figured it was another tool for pro se litigants. Then one of my own clients sent me a fully organized timeline from it—and suddenly my prep time dropped by 60%.
I’ve since integrated Splitifi into my intake process. I require clients to use it. Not because it replaces me—but because it protects both of us.
Now I walk into court knowing every document is clean. My clients feel supported, not panicked. And I feel like a lawyer again—not a digital babysitter.
This is what law should feel like. Not easier. Just better.
—Devon
