Junior Associate

We're New Leaf Family, and we might be looking for you. It is our hope that you have also been looking for us. We're not like other family law firms. We intentionally have built this firm to be different; different for our team, different for our clients, different to other lawyers, to the courts, and to the public. From the ground up, we have built the family law firm we always wished existed when we needed them.

There is a better way to practice Family Law.

That is the premise of the New Leaf Family. If you agree, you may want to read on! If not ... it is perfectly OK to move on.

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Doing things differently should get you excited.

We're looking for an attorney that wants to join us in our mission to completely change the way Family Law is practiced. We believe that Family Law firms should be focused on helping our clients transition into a life more fully lived, and not on the conflict.

"We empower our clients to make the best possible decisions for themselves and their family."

Those are the words we live by. We invest in getting to know our clients, and in helping them to know themselves, and what they want as a result of the situation that brought them to us.

In order to do this, we need lawyers that are aligned with this mission, good with clients, and unafraid to stand up for our clients before any tribunal. While we do not believe that the court is the best place to resolve the disputes in which our clients may be engaged, we do believe that the best way to bring the decision back to our clients is to be unafraid to advocate for them in the best way possible.

We accomplish that by working to empower our clients to make the best decisions they can for themselves and their families. We meet our clients in times of family conflict or transition, and we then assist them to make the transition in a positive manner, toward the life they want. We emphasize growth over conflict. We help clients move toward a new life, not just flee the one they’re in.

This is not a typical family law firm.

The work you do will directly contribute to work that helps clients in very real ways. 

The founders of New Leaf believe that:

• Each client is best suited to determine what he/she wants in the next chapter of their life
• We can better serve clients by helping them build the future that they want, instead of imposing the “traditional” family law solutions
• That the members of our team thrive in an environment focused on empowering clients

You may not have much experience, but this mission excites you!

We are looking for attorneys who want to work to help people undergoing transition in their family.  You should be someone who would like to work with a team that believes as we do, and who want to reduce the attorney-induced drama needless escalation of the conflict, and focus instead on building a future with and for clients.

The system as practiced in many firms seems designed to wear down the clients, and the attorneys. There is a better way of doing things, so that the balance, most days, have you feeling awesome about how much you are positively affecting people’s lives. We can't eliminate the tough days ... we're not magicians ... but we are on a mission, and that makes it a lot more fun!

You are committed, above all, and in everything we do, to an excellent experience for clients.

If you're still reading this, and believe this might be a role for you, let me tell you about us. We are combining our founders' talents of running successful law firms, with the experience of having built a very successful family law practice, and wanting to continue to grow to serve more people.

We are able to serve clients more fully, and more efficiently, bringing family law services to people who have been scared away by the high, and unpredictable costs of family law firms led by trial lawyers who can be more interested in winning, than in achieving a great outcome for their clients.

When you apply, please briefly let us know why this role, in particular, gets you excited... This is key. Don't skip it! (you will be prompted separately to answer this question)

We look forward to hearing from you!

Job Responsibilities:

We operate as a team. In this role you get to be on a team of attorneys, paralegals, assistants, coaches, counselors, and more. We are all focused on empowering clients to navigate change and conflict in their family lives. You will help clients to develop and articulate a vision of the future they are working to achieve and prepare a strategy that helps them to achieve it. We believe that we should not impose what we see as "the solution" onto clients' lives. 

Key responsibilities as an attorney with New Leaf Family are to:

• Listen. You have experience ... and it will help you hear what's important. But you also know that it is important for the client to tell their story.
• Understand. Clients will tell you, (and you will help them tell) about what they need, beyond what they need in court or litigation. You are going to help them to see a vision of where they want to be, not just what they're leaving behind.
• Empower. You must be dedicated to empowering our clients to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. You will empower them to build their futures.
• Explain. We have experience in the ways of family law that our clients do not have. In many circumstances, we have life experience they do not have. Our client want (and need) to know the options from which they are choosing. We empower them by helping them be aware of their choices.
• Defend. Stand up for clients in forums that are unfamiliar to them. You will be ready, willing, and able to advocate for clients in places where our expertise can shine, including negotiations, mediation, litigation, trial, etc
• Align. Through understanding, you will make sure that our actions move the client in the direction toward their vision.
• Elevate. We help our clients best when we remain objective, and stay in our space where we are able to see their situation, their options, and their vision more clearly than they can. From there we can lift them up. If we get down into the drama, then we are much less help to them.
• Serve. Assist the whole client. You will put clients in touch with additional resources, both inside and outside New Leaf. These could be closely affiliated, like parenting coordinators, divorce coaches, and financial planners, to other resources that clients may need, like real estate brokers, car dealers, personal trainers, or makeover artists.
• Attract. Bring more people into New Leaf Family. You will be a positive ambassador for the work of the firm, and attract clients, and colleagues alike.
• Lead. Be a leader in the legal community. Be a leader among our team, and help us grow and attract more lawyers (and other professionals) like you.
• Collaborate. You will be a strong member of a distributed team. We don't all meet in person too often, so being able to be a strong team member in a remote work setting is crucial.
• Self-Care. Take care of yourself so that you can take care of clients.

You will do your part to bring effective conflict resolution resources to more people, by being effective in what you do with New Leaf Family, and letting our light shine!

Job Qualifications

First and foremost, you have a passion for empowering clients through their current family conflict, toward a future that they may not (yet) clearly see. Next, you are excited about the prospect of doing this … differently! The remainder of qualifications doesn't matter if you don't have this! (But they are still essential if you do.) You are the right person if you are:

• Creative. We want you to find joy in building creative solutions ... sometimes in the law ... often beyond it.
• Empathic. We want you to have a strong connection with clients, with the ability to hear their hopes, dreams, and desires as well as deliver difficult truths to them.
• Ethical. We shouldn't have to write this, but a strong ethical compass is essential in our work.
• Collaborative. In this world it is important to have experience, and success working collaboratively with a team .... even when remote. You should enjoy working with a team ... but also be self-sufficient
• Independent. This may seem contrary to being collaborative, but it is not. You must be able to work independently, yet also comfortable with reaching out for assistance, and knowing when to do so.
• Tech-friendly. We work hard to make our practice efficient and cost-effective for our clients. We want you to be proficient and self-sufficient with technology that facilitates working with a distributed team and servicing clients in ways most convenient to them.
• A Writer. Excellent writing skills make the difference in many cases and demonstrate clear thinking.
• Committed to delivering excellent client service
• And ... of course, you are a member of the Colorado Bar ... in Good Standing

New Leaf Family is a law firm, yes. But we do things ... differently.

We are focused on empowering our clients to resolve their family conflict problems. We exist to help them understand the future they want to build, and then using our skills and experience to help them plan their path, and to help them implement it. 

We understand that our clients don't come to us with legal problems. They are experiencing personal conflict. Yes, their problems likely have an intersection with the law, which is why we’re the right team to help them.  But that isn’t the totality of their problem … so its not the end of how we serve our clients.

Our work doesn't begin and end with the legal process.  It begins before that, and continues long past. Our mission is to help solve the entire problem, sometimes including other professionals in our work.

We began our work in Family Law in 2004, and have evolved our approach over time. It is important, first and foremost, to understand that we are not" divorce brokers." It is not our mission to get people divorced ... or to keep them from divorcing. Our mission, put simply, is to empower our clients to make the best decisions for themselves and their family, and then to apply our skills, knowledge and experience to implementing those decisions with and for our clients. Often times that need not involve bitter and protracted litigation. It is often best for all parties when we are able to arrive at a result that most closely aligns with their values, hopes and desires.

(But we are fully equipped and ready to engage in whatever level of litigation is needed to protect those values, hopes and desires!)

We believe that that serving our clients means understanding their needs before, during, and after whatever legal process may ensue, and connecting them with the necessary resources, easily and seamlessly. Our clients team up with us to build their futures ... and we take that responsibility very seriously.