Vero Sphere is where you’ll read inspirational, personal stories from our local market.
Vero Sphere is with Susan Chesnutt.
(Part 1 of 4) “A lot of times, some of the decisions that propel you onto a certain path, are made without you. The best of those decisions, take you to really great places that you hadn’t anticipated. It can seem scary, but at the same time, it can be extremely rewarding. I just recently left my job as an independent contractor for the state, so that I can now focus on my private cases. It was a choice I ultimately made, but it was a choice I felt forced to make. I was an outsource, and they eventually wanted to keep it within their agency. It didn’t make sense for me to continue on with their specifications. Now, I can totally devote myself to the decision 100%, rather than still feel as if I’m wavering on it. I’m happy about it all. This is exactly what I’ve been working towards for my entire career. I’m now able to find motivation within my business. When I went to law school, I had no idea what type of law I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to just pigeon hole myself into the child abuse attorney section, as it’s just one chapter of the Florida Statutes. It’s very small. I feel like now, at this point, I’ve finally built the foundation for what I want – to help people. My ultimate goal is not really to make money, it’s to make a difference. I have this idea of how families are supposed to work, so I want to help people achieve that.”
(Part 2 of 4) “I have personal experiences that make my perspective very unique. I have an interesting background. I was a foster child, and grew up in the system. When I graduated from college, I thought I wanted to go to law school. But I also thought that I wasn’t smart enough, and figured I didn’t have the money for it. You know, the usual excuses people have about attending law school. I was a child abuse investigator for 4 years for DCF before I went, so i had real world experience. It was an incredibly valuable investment of my time, especially for the types of areas of law that I do. I was then a state attorney for 4 years, and now I’ve been in private practice for about 5 years. I have all of those different types of training, and to put them all together is just great. I moved to the Treasure Coast when I graduated from my undergraduate school at UF. I came here for the job at DCF, put roots down, and now this is where I’m at. Even though I’ve been doing this for quite some time, I still continue to learn and be challenged every day. I have so many different things happening right now. It doesn’t ever get boring. I’m told all the time that I’m a ‘power woman’, because I’m in a highly male dominated field – or at least it used to be. If you said that now, I’m not sure if it would still hold true. I’m self sufficient and independent, so I guess that makes me be viewed as a powerful person. The reality is, I’m just a regular girl working a job like everybody else.”
(Part 3 of 4) “Having an all girls staff wasn’t intentional, but that’s just how it worked out. I have three employees, and we share information as much as we can, so that we’re all on the same page – it makes my practice run smoothly. It is a lot of overhead, but I feel that it’s necessary to get the job done efficiently. I want my clients to have the attention to detail, timeliness and responsiveness that they deserve, because they’re paying for a service. After all, they’re choosing me to represent them. When you come in, it’s very important to me to learn how you heard about my firm. Attorneys spend money on marketing and advertising – it’s not always fruitful. Your reputation is very important, and when you have other attorneys referring you cases, that is a huge testament to how you are doing. Not that i think I’m doing great, but it makes me feel like I’m doing something right. It makes me feel very blessed, that people put that type of faith in me. I’m beyond grateful.”
(Part 4 of 4) “I chose this profession because of the family aspect of it. Even in the criminal portion of law, people’s families are almost always affected. There are so many ways that it happens. I just want to be able to help people put it all back together, and make it work the best for them. I’m able to do that, through all different areas of law. This firm is where compassion results in aggressive representation. I’ve been called a bulldog. I can be aggressive when I need to be, but I’m always just going to look out for what’s best for people. Some clients have come in saying that they’re looking for a different attorney because so-and-so is not aggressive enough. It bothers me to a certain extent, because we’re in an era now, where everything is supposed to be more of a collaborative approach. Not everything is supposed to be adversarial, and if you’re looking at what the best interest is for your family’s situation, then you can’t have this ‘my way or the highway’ mindset. It doesn’t work that way. It can work that way – but nobody is happy. It has to be a give and take. I always try to be as understanding as I possibly can. People come here in crisis mode – they’re not sure what to do. Very few people can afford attorneys, period. That is why I offer payment plans – which, unfortunately sometimes results in my services getting taken advantage of. It would be refreshing every now and again to have a client walk through my doors that’s not in that state of panic. Knowing that people are coming to you, looking to you to tell them what to do with their life – it’s very, very stressful. But it’s also very, very rewarding. You know how you can help them make things better. It would be nice not to have all that pressure, of course. But, it’s what I specialize in, so I will always accept that. It’s just really sad that in my area of law, nobody is ever really happy, because there are no real winners. Every so often, you might come out feeling good. But you can’t ever get that real win feel.”
Business: The Chesnutt Law Firm | www.TheChesnuttLawFirm.com | Susan@TheChesnuttLawFirm.com | 772-492-3330
