Compassion is a must when handling clients that require legal solutions. In these sectors, one has to be a good listener to offer reliable information and resolve the issues. It is hard to find charismatic business owners who perfectly blend empathy with business. Cynthia Petersen is one such personality. Cynthia is a customer care representative who became a lawyer after considering a friend’s proposal to become a paralegal. She believes that this profession is the ultimate customer service that one can offer. Through her venture—Petersen Law and QDROs LLC—she strives to give her clients the best and treat them with respect, provide transparency in her work, and let them have a bit of control in getting to the end of their case or situation where everything can feel out-of-control.
The Law Firm
Petersen Law and QDROs strives to give excellent legal services to the community and beyond. It provides residential real estate, estate planning, and uncontested divorces locally, while nationally drafting retirement plan divisions in divorce, consulting with attorneys, and assisting with determining the best division of assets for their clients. Cynthia has been practicing in the area of family law and the division of retirement plans in divorce for over 26 years. She became a mentor and leader in the divorce sector of practice, providing services to individuals and attorneys. She desires to continue teaching legal education in that area, as well as providing community seminars on estate planning and other relevant topics. Her motive is to make the world a better place for everyone around her, irrespective of the community or group she represents. She has put that into practice, both as a lawyer, business owner, and President of the local Chamber of Commerce.
Laying the foundation with authenticity
Cynthia is an outgoing individual who wants everyone to thrive around her. As a perfectionist, she strives to always bring her A-game to the table with authenticity and transparency. She makes her clients feel at ease, allowing them to readily share their emotional experience and have faith in her ability to deliver what they require in a particular scenario. Although she cares about her client, she believes that caring is not enough. As a previous customer service professional, she strives to provide outstanding service and always tries to do her best for the client.
She opened her law firm during COVID-19, leaving the firm to pursue her niche practice. She was working at a small law firm in Joliet, Illinois, where she was the trial-litigation attorney for family law and divorce cases, which were highly contested many times. It was stressful, and she had been practicing in that area for almost 23 years. She had started gaining a good reputation with her QDRO drafting and expertise in the area of retirement plan divisions in divorce, but that was not the main focus for the firm. She was ready for a change, so she was amicably laid off so that she could start her firm and concentrate on retirement plan division work. She was able to have some clients transferred to her, which helped her immensely. She incorporated her business on April 20, 2020, and has been successful in developing a thriving retirement plan division practice, as well as being able to provide other general practice services. She had fallen in love with the Galena, Illinois, area, and in October 2021, she moved her practice and her family 2 ½ hours from the Joliet area to Stockton, IL, where she is currently the only full-time attorney in town.
She worked from home and established her practice at a time when online communication became the norm. She still uses online communication—electronic intakes, electronically signed engagement letters, and online and other types of electronic payments. Even during COVID, she tried to make sure her clients’ issues moved forward as quickly as they could when the courts were not running very efficiently—and then when everything was via Zoom. Cynthia’s background before becoming an attorney was in customer service. She believes being a lawyer means providing the ultimate customer service to clients; finding out their needs and struggles and helping solve those things in a caring and integral manner is her mission in law practice.
Thinking outside the box
Cynthia constantly attempts to think outside the box when negotiating divorce settlements, rather than cutting corners. She goes on to say, “We have never done it that way; it is just an excuse to do lazy lawyering.” Finding a solution that works for both parties is the most effective way to ensure that the outcome is both fair and acceptable to everyone, no matter how hard it is. Along with that, when she was first practicing, the older male attorneys would often treat her with disdain or try to boss her around. One time in court, she was the attorney assigned to a case, so she was speaking to the other attorney, who acted like a child instead of an attorney. He howled at her to go draft the order after she negotiated to get a fair provision regarding property division, and she turned and walked toward the courtroom to do that, feeling angry, frustrated, and humiliated. Then she stopped, as she realized she did not have to just walk away. She turned around and firmly said to him, “Excuse me, you have never met me; you don’t know me, and I don’t know you, so there is no reason to be uncivil to me. I expect that in the future, you will treat me with respect.” She then turned and walked back into the courtroom and drafted the order. “He was never disrespectful to me again,” she adds.
In addition, she expressed a strong desire to encourage people to learn about divorce law. Having previously practiced in the legal industry before coming to northwest Illinois, she asked her former business if she could host a session where she could provide information on retirement plan division in divorce. Her firm held a happy hour for the local attorneys and judges and then had her lead a question-and-answer session where they could ask any question in the area of retirement plan divisions in divorce. Although Cynthia was nervous at first, she soon became more confident as she answered every question, even when the questions moved to areas such as retirement itself, Social Security, and investments. After almost 1 ½ hours, she and her team had to stop due to time constraints. This improved her reputation and drew business to the firm.
Not being a quitter
“I am not a quitter,” Cynthia proudly says. There are times when she cares about a client’s case much more than they do. She attempts to provide the client with the opportunity to become involved and participate as needed, but if this does not occur, she believes she is no longer useful for them. She withdraws from the case, feeling a bit sad because she knows that if they continue to avoid the situation, it will not get any better. “Having had to do this several times, now at our first meeting, I try to prepare my clients to avoid doing this, letting them know I need them involved and cooperating and that I cannot represent them if they aren’t doing that,” she adds. She believes it has resulted in fewer customers withdrawing within themselves to avoid the inevitable, as well as being able to better assist them in working through their legal concerns with the necessary guidance.
Cynthia’s primary goal where she now lives is to help revitalize her small town and to be a business leader and role model in the community. She has broadened her income stream, which had become tiring to the point of exhaustion sometimes when relying on only one type of income. Including her law office, she has four businesses. She has an Airbnb on the second floor of her office building which she opened in July 2023 and has become a Super Host. Her husband, a friend, and Cynthia operate a photography, art, and craft store with handmade and original work, as well as vintage glass collected by her friend. She and her husband operate Let Us Out! Escape Rooms, LLC, in the same building, with a unique twist: no locked or shut doors. It is a family-friendly experience without the anxieties of an escape room where you have to unlock the door to ‘escape.’ “We create our own scenarios and clues and interact with our guests to provide a one-of-a-kind experience,” she says.
Lastly, Cynthia is working on nationally advertising her retirement plan division’s drafting services. She has a skillset that attorneys need—and not just those from Illinois. She is excited to start this new adventure, and she hopes to expand her escape room business too—by creating mobile escape room experiences.
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