Firm and Media Interviews

Jane McGarry (00:00):
… served with divorce or custody papers or your significant other or ex tells you they’re going to file, you may feel paralyzed and unsure about what to do next. What you may not know is the first few steps could have a huge impact on how your case eventually turns out.

Jane McGarry (00:14):
Attorney Justin Sisemore from the Sisemore law firm joins me to give you some hands-on advice. A little hand-holding is really good at a time like this.

Justin Sisemore (00:22):
Yes, ma’am.

Jane McGarry (00:22):
Good morning. Nice to have you here.

Justin Sisemore (00:23):
Thank you.

Jane McGarry (00:23):
You’ve earned a lot of nominations and awards year after year. We’re looking at some of them on the screen right now. Why is that type of recognition important for clients?

Justin Sisemore (00:33):
Well, there’s a lot of great lawyers out there, and I think that it’s really important for the viewers to understand that when you have the diversity of these kind of awards, it’s a recognition of a good business practice and also good lawyers. It’s just helpful to help you get through the weeds a little bit in the process of selecting an attorney.

Jane McGarry (00:50):
A selection process.

Justin Sisemore (00:51):
Yes, ma’am.

Jane McGarry (00:52):
Narrowing it down. Okay. What are the first four steps that viewers should take to avoid costly mistakes when faced with a divorce or a custody battle?

Justin Sisemore (01:00):
Well, first and foremost, it’s very, very important to consult a lawyer. There’s a lot of pitfalls that people face when they’re first going into a divorce or child custody case, protecting your finances, making sure you secured your bank statements, your credit cards, all of your income. People often get left out by themselves with no help or assistance whatsoever because the other side cuts off their credit cards. Your finances are very important to know where they are and how you can secure them.

Justin Sisemore (01:27):
As far as your home, protecting your home and your evidence, very important to understand you don’t just get to come into a courtroom and conclude. You must absolutely have evidence to back it up.

Jane McGarry (01:36):
Right.

Justin Sisemore (01:37):
A lot of people step out of the residence. They don’t take any of the stuff with them that they need to show the courts and they don’t get a chance to go back in there oftentimes for six or eight months after a temporary hearing.

Jane McGarry (01:46):
Okay. Your first advice was to consult an attorney right away. If our viewers already have an attorney, but are not happy with them, is it a good idea to consult another lawyer, potentially switch? What’s your advice on that?

Justin Sisemore (01:59):
I don’t recommend an immediate switch. I think it’s very important to understand we are here to help you. We’re here to help the viewers. If your attorney’s not answering questions and not coming up with clear strategy, think about the timing of when to switch, before trial or mediation. Right before may not be the best move, but that’s the purpose of the consult. That allows us to come in there and really see if we can help.

Jane McGarry (02:20):
I think what you’re saying is really interesting because these first few steps may not seem significant because you’re caught up in the emotion of the time. But at the same time, what you do in the first few steps is critically important for you, for your kids’ lives.

Justin Sisemore (02:34):
Yes.

Jane McGarry (02:34):
For the rest of your life.

Justin Sisemore (02:35):
Absolutely. We deal with the situation all the time where clients just exercise self-help, what they think is helping or helpful, and oftentimes it becomes a disaster in a courtroom.

Jane McGarry (02:46):
Okay. You gave some great advice. We can only touch on the topics. How can viewers learn more about these various topics?

Justin Sisemore (02:53):
We have great blogs. We have great Facebook presence, and there’s a lot of information on our website, lawyerdfw.com. They can log on there and really get some good insight. Google’s very helpful in gathering some key information, but log on to sisemorelawfirm.com, www.lawyerdfw.com.

Jane McGarry (03:10):
You, in fact, have a complimentary consultation. What do viewers need to do in order to take advantage of that?

Justin Sisemore (03:15):
We do. I spend a lot of time on consultations themselves. This month through the end of the month, we’re offering a complimentary consultation to help them get through and navigate their key legal issues.

Jane McGarry (03:26):
All right. Thank you so much-

Justin Sisemore (03:26):
Thank you.

Jane McGarry (03:27):
… for being here this morning and offering that consultation to our viewers. You can call (817) 336-4444 or go to lawyer.dfw.com for more information. Don’t miss your chance to get a complimentary consultation until September 30th. All you have to do is mention GMT.

Justin Sisemore (00:01):
So when I think about making this video, I was thinking about if I were you, in your chair, what that would be like. How do I determine who my lawyer should be, where to even start looking? What questions do I ask them? What things do I need to bring to a consultation? And I want to break those things down for you specifically, so that when you get here to the Sisemore Law Firm, you know and you’re confident that you are at the best law firm to handle your case. You’re going to see exactly how I walk through the case, and I’m actually going to answer most of your questions before you even ask them. And I’ve done this thousands of times, so I can tell you from experience exactly where you need to be.

Justin Sisemore (00:37):
But when you get to the consultation, I’m going to have you fill out some information. That information is going to help guide me to guide you on exactly what the process looks like. In the beginning of the consultation, I’m going to walk you through exactly whether it’s a marriage, divorce case, whether it’s a child custody case, an adoption, a paternity case, an enforcement, a modification, a grandparent’s rights case. Those are some of the key areas that we focus our attention on. And sometimes you’re not going to know exactly what that is. So I’m going to have you fill out some information, and then I’m going to walk you and steer you right into where you need to be. The purpose of the consultation, really for me, is to gauge you and how you’re going to react, so that we’re the right fit for you, and you’re the right fit for our firm.

Justin Sisemore (01:23):
I’m very big on our brand. I’m very big on making sure that you refer everyone to us. And you only do that if we do a good job for you. So when we have this consultation, I’m going to ask you some key things. Those things help me team you up with the right team in our firm to make sure that I and my team serve you the best.

Videographer (00:00):
I was looking over some of the footage you shot last Tuesday, and when you and Justin kind of started getting into it up by the window and he started going on a roll, there’s a clip that ends with him, literally just going… He’s talking, he’s like, “I want her mic’d up.” And then I cut, and so that’s a perfect cold open for…

Andrea (00:17):
You went through divorce yourself, so you understand what this means, and you’ve worked here so long as you have seen pretty much anything imaginable and you know what kind of crap can come up in divorce, and at the end, it’s all going to be okay.

Videographer (00:31):
First things first, we got to mic you up. So go ahead and you can set this probably in your lap, the box in your lap.

Robin (00:39):
Okay.

Videographer (00:39):
And then just thread that up.

Robin (00:42):
My name is Robin. I’m the office manager here at the Sisemore Law Firm. I’ve actually been working here 12 years. I have gone through divorce myself. Justin handled that for me and did an amazing job. And just because I work here and worked here during my divorce doesn’t mean I liked it or it wasn’t a bad, stressful time. I got very frustrated with Justin when he would give me direction that I did not agree with, but it was best for my case, or just didn’t want to do. The document requests that they wanted me to do, discovery that comes in from the other side, it’s all necessary, but it can be extremely stressful and just not fun to do.

Justin (01:29):
Yeah, no. She couldn’t stand me. So we spent many a days arguing, fighting, making up and over the years, it’s just been kind of like, “Man, how did we get through that?” But we did.

Robin (01:45):
He was compassionate when he needed to be and listening when he needed to be. And on the other side, when I wasn’t being compliant, I wasn’t following his direction or freaking out about something that wasn’t even a big deal, he would sit me down and explain to me what’s important, what we need to focus on, what matters and what doesn’t in court and out of court. And just in general, how to make it through to the other side in one piece with our children in a position where they can thrive and have a happy future.

Mike Torraca (00:18):
All right.

Justin (00:19):
There you go, sir.

Mike Torraca (00:19):
Oh, the little microphone. Here we go.

Justin (00:21):
We’ll try to figure this out together.

Mike Torraca (00:23):
Help me out with this.

Justin (00:24):
There’s no [inaudible 00:00:25] she can do it for sure. So I told you downstairs when you first walked in how much I truly appreciate you being here. It’s families like yours that make this business my favorite thing to do in the world. I feel like it’s what we’re called to do. I just wanted to bring you here to talk about your experience, just totally raw. How did you get here? How are we as a firm? What was it like for you to make the decision so that we can help others understand this process?

Mike Torraca (00:51):
We had gotten possession of our grandson, because when he was born, his mother had mental illness. And so we acquired the baby when he was three days old. And we had been raising him for five years in our home.

Gloria Torraca (01:08):
Yes, we did everything for the baby, and took him to school when it was time, and everything for the baby, just like he was ours.

Mike Torraca (01:19):
And the father was hit or miss, in and out, part time father situation at that. Then the situation began getting worse, and he started using the child as a weapon. He came and took the child out of school and disappeared with him for a week at a time, he’s staying in hotels, and things like that. And we decided that it was time to act. The first lawyer was number one, offered very little hope of success, and was totally preoccupied with other cases. Every time we tried to communicate, whether she was either gone, not in the office, failed to return phone calls. We would literally get in the car and drive to her office and wait to see if she was there.

Gloria Torraca (02:12):
Well, that was a nightmare, I tell you. Emotionally, it was terrible for me, because I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know who to call, because I knew that she wasn’t going to answer my telephone. But Mike was smarter than me, so he find you guys. And that was a blessing when that happened. That was the best of everything missing. God had it planned that way. So we called you, and we would make an appointment, we came over here, and we talked to you guys. And then when you came in, I was just felt ah. I felt like everything was going to be all right, and it was.