Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Hamer.
Hi Anne, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m a divorce lawyer. My career path was not typical. I started working right out of college for a Nashville company called Corrections Corporation of America in a men’s prison as a correctional officer. From there, I transferred to the corporate office, left to go to law school at New York University, and came back to Nashville as a corporate litigator at Bass, Berry & Sims. I got married, took 10 years off to raise a family, then started practicing as a divorce lawyer.
I was surprised 5 years later when my husband told me he wanted a divorce, but it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I have two beautiful teenage girls (adopted – that’s a whole story in itself), a job I love, and am happy to be back in Nashville with its energy and opportunities. Life has definitely thrown me some curve balls, but every experience has added exponential value to my growth, both personal and professional.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ha! I probably covered a little of that already, but here are a few:
1) Working in a male-dominated profession. Corrections, my brief stint on Wall Street, and law have been completely male dominated during most of my career.
2) Adopting my children. Both my girls were adopted through domestic adoption, which means not only do the adoptive parents complete oodles of paperwork, but the birth moms choose the parents! It’s more stressful than applying to law school or taking the bar exam. Fortunately, we were picked, and my children are super close to their birth families. We see them once a year at least, and it’s given both my girls more confidence about their heritage.
3) Divorce, obvi. I was completely taken off guard when my husband left. I can’t begin to emphasize how important my law degree was at that point. I had confidence that I could support myself and my children if I needed to, and that helped me create a post-divorce game plan for us.
4) Taking 10 years off. I don’t regret it for a minute, but coming back into the workforce, especially in a career as competitive as law, was rough. There was a huge learning curve for me to become proficient in divorce law.
As you know, we’re big fans of Anne Hamer Law PLLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I specialize in divorce and family law cases, 100%. I am a boutique firm – I take a limited number of clients so each one can get the attention they need. After my divorce, I realized that my clients need my advice and reassurance throughout the entire case and that I have to limit the number of clients I serve in order to provide that. I take pride in knowing that each of my clients can reach me at almost any time, day or night, weekday or weekend if things go awry. To me, it’s important that your divorce lawyer understand what you’re experiencing, and I can certainly empathize with each step of the difficult divorce process because I’ve been through it myself.
My litigation training and experience also sets me apart from many lawyers who have only practiced family law. I’ve attended the prestigious National Institute of Trial Advocacy family law trial program, which is a rigorous trial preparation program that focuses on trial skills in a family law context. I’m also trained as a family law mediator and also specifically as a mediator in domestic violence cases.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Empathy. Without a doubt, I believe my ability to connect with my clients on a personal level creates trust, and that allows me to strategize with them, develop a plan for their divorce case and help them feel comfortable relying on my advice to help them reach their goals.
Contact Info:
- Website:annehamerlaw.com
Image Credits
Shannon Fontaine
