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Valentine's Busy for Divorce Lawyers
One would expect that Feb. 14 would be a busy day for the folks at Lawyers in Love. After all, their business is matching single legal professionals who are in search of romance. One would not, however, expect this day to be any more or less busy for the folks at a different kind of legal matching service, LegalMatch.com, given that their business is the decidedly unromantic pairing of lawyers with clients. Au contraire. In a news release distributed today, LegalMatch associate general counsel Ken LaMance describes what he calls the Valentine's Effect -- a surge in divorce cases around the very day that celebrates love. "Over the last four years," he says, "we have seen an average increase of 31 percent (compared to all other weeks) in divorce, annulments and prenuptial cases in the week prior to and directly after Valentine's Day."
It is worse in some places than in others (or better, I suppose, if you are a divorce lawyer). LegalMatch reports that Philadelphia saw the biggest surge last year, with a nearly 50 percent increase in new divorce cases in the weeks around Valentine's Day. Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, saw increases of 44 percent and 32 percent. Among major metropolitan areas, Atlanta saw the smallest spike, 20 percent. LegalMatch concludes that population density plays a role in the Valentine's Effect and that small-town America seems immune.
The LegalMatch blog describes LaMance as an avid surfer and bicyclist, but makes no mention of a psychology background. Nonetheless, LaMance has an explanation for the Valentine's Effect: "The added stress of a holiday where you are all but required to express your love with chocolates, flowers and even jewels, especially so soon after the holidays, can make people anxious and questioning."
Anxious and questioning and, apparently, in search of a lawyer.
Posted by Robert J. Ambrogi on February 14, 2007 at 03:15 PM | Permalink
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