Requiem for a Heavyweight

No Gravatar

The day after tax day… 2007. I am summoned to visit a potential client with a problem. They have been using PCLaw (a superb accounting system for lawyers, accountants, and consultants- i.e., anyone who needs to track and bill time) for several years, a program with which I was and am intimately familiar. We talk and agree that I will assist them to resolve their current problems.

Except… over the next few weeks, it’s clear to the client that my skills are way beyond those needed to just solve PCLaw problems. From determining better avenues for cash management, from managing the business to increase the bottom line, for information about the staff, and collecting moneys due…plus personal financial management for the principal. So, this one-to-three month “get us over the hump” gig becomes a contracted financial management arrangement. One that will be drawing to a close very soon. Because the founding entrepreneur of the firm died on 24 September. And, this is about her. Betty A. Thompson, Esq. Betty Thompson was a native Virginian, hailing from Arlington, where she remained. Born when there was no “Northern Virginia”, a sobriquet adopted to explain the differences in political attitudes or race relations between the northern portions and the rest of the Commonwealth. Betty graduated from George Washington University Law School and began to practice law in Arlington in 1948, being one of the very, very few women lawyers.

(And, given the current political climate, it’s important to recognize that Betty changed her mind- and grew over the years. In 1957, she ran for the Virginia House of Delegates on a pro-segregationalist platform [and lost].  That attitude  was rampant in Virginia through the 70s and 80s (by the latter years, mostly in Southern and Central Virginia). That belief changed over the next decades- so much so, that I never knew about it until last year, when someone told me the story. The one unchanging tenet she held was that women needed equal rights and she used her influence-and her money- to support that cause and adhering candidates.)

Her first efforts were civil and criminal law. But, over the course of the first decade or so of her practice, Betty began focusing on divorce- long before the specialty became known as “family law”. And, Betty was good at this practice- very good. She earned the sobriquet of “The Queen of the Divorce Court”.

And, Betty dressed the part of the Queen. Whether it was Chanel or Ralph (Lauren- don’t you know?), Betty chose her clothes with elan. She made sure every one of the accessories she chose would compliment the chosen attire- and her. Betty loved to entertain. Her annual Christmas Party was THE entertainment event for the legal establishment. And, the invitation list separated the “men from the boys”. Those invitations alone would take your breath away with their quiet elegance. (And, the desert cake was a delectable reproduction of those custom-designed cards.)

Betty knew that too often folks try to use their divorce cases as a means to get even. She was not a fan of that concept. It was never about getting that last penny from the @#%&@ soon-to-be-ex-spouse.

Betty knew that the primary issues were to sever ties and reach a just and fair settlement. Betty’s practice evolved with the needs of the divorce cases. Now, divorce involves real estate, corporate law, trusts, custody, and the like.

Betty was instrumental in getting the divorce laws in Virginia to refect the changing needs. So, in 1982, Virginia law changed from ‘title’ to ‘equitable’ distribution. (Title means who ever was on the title retained the property after divorce- which meant, typically, the husband. Equitable- not equal- means that property values are distributed after divorce.) Betty also changed the rules that spousal support was for life- and, instead, were maintained only for finite time periods, long enough to let the other spouse get started once again in life.

Betty never married. She might have, but the love of her life died in an accident. But, she never would have entered that situation unarmed. Betty believed that when you get married, “you mortgage yourself for life”. Marriage has no prerequisities; instead it’s based upon the belief that love will carry you forward, with no warranties and no written contract.

Betty, I’ll miss you. So will the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the International Association of Matrimonial Lawyers, and the Melvin Belli Society, among the many societies you put forward your time, effort, and scholarship funds- plus divorcing and marrying people throughout the Commonwealth.

Roy A. Ackerman, Ph.D., E.A.

If you want to discuss how your business can grow and succeed, succession planning, how you can better capture your time and effort- then call us… I personally will have a few more available hours each week, very soon.
Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter
Share

9 thoughts on “Requiem for a Heavyweight”

Comments are closed.