Wave Listens Live 7 Family Law Fridays July 22 2022

JOHN RAMSEY: It is feel good Friday, and it is family law Friday. I’m joined once again by family — family attorney, John Schmidt. He’s also a friend of mine. John, welcome back to the show.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Thanks, John.

JOHN RAMSEY: So glad you are here. And this is a client of your, Mr. David Thornton. David, thank you for coming in.

DAVID THORNTON: Wonderful to be here.

JOHN RAMSEY: All right. I’m looking forward to hearing your story. But first, yours. Let’s talk a little bit about your practice and — and what you do for those folks out there, I’ve met a number of your clients now, and they all rave about you. So tell them about what your —

JOHN SCHMIDT: Oh, thanks.

JOHN RAMSEY: — field of expertise is, John.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Sure. We focus on family law issues, criminal and personal injury. So in the family law, it’s divorce, both contested divorce and uncontested divorce; adoptions, contested adoptions and uncontested adoptions; CPS cases or dependency and neglect and abuse cases, if you will; custody; grandparents’ rights; and de facto custodian issues. So those are — those are pretty much the, you know, issues that we focus on.

JOHN RAMSEY: I — I think it speaks volumes that you bring your client on here, and these are people who have paid your for their services, but — and they’re happy with the results. I — I can’t tell you – – I don’t have many attorneys that say, “Oh, yeah. I talked to my clients,” because a lot of them are not so happy. But yours seem to be – like they have the outcome that — that you promised and that you look out for them.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah, I don’t promise outcomes.

JOHN RAMSEY: I don’t promise. Okay. Correct.

JOHN SCHMIDT: I mean —

JOHN RAMSEY: I — I — I deserve to be corrected there. I don’t promise.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah. Yeah, I don’t promise outcomes.

JOHN RAMSEY: I just fight for you.

JOHN SCHMIDT: I do. I — you know, I — I – I promise to do my best and work as hard as I can and — and to be a zealous advocate for you, try to give you a voice in the courtroom. But the judges make decisions, I don’t make the decisions, and – and I — I — you know.

JOHN RAMSEY: There we go.

JOHN SCHMIDT: There — there have been times that have been real close, so yeah.

JOHN RAMSEY: All right. Now we get to go to David. All right, David. You’re in the insurance business, right?

DAVID THORNTON: Correct.

JOHN RAMSEY: Okay. And from what I understand in the brief conversation we had, your relationship with John is multi-layered. So — so tell me a little bit about how you’ve used John for personal reasons and for business, right?

DAVID THORNTON: Right. So I was not the best marketer in the world. I thought that you needed to burn up some shoe leather to meet clients, and I stopped in John’s dad’s shop and I’d hang around,get to know what he was doing, and we just developed a — one of those really good, quick friendships, and — and John go through school, hanging out — hanging a shingle, and he’s an attorney. And about that time I happened to go through a — a divorce, and John was my go-to. Oh, my gosh, why on Earth are you Lexington calling somebody up in Louisville? Well, it’s — it’s relationship, it’s not distance, and I knew John would — would have my back regardless of what happened. And I called him, and he was happy to come take care of me.

JOHN RAMSEY: Yeah. This is something that you take pride in, John, because this happens to be a — really a lifelong friend, it sounds like to me.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah.

JOHN RAMSEY: With that being said, I’ve met a number of your clients who weren’t friends, but they felt like they were friend after they were dealing with you in business. This is something probably important. Get to know that person and genuinely care, regardless of the relationship, right?

JOHN SCHMIDT: It is. Yeah. You know, when I was 40, I was walking through the Philadelphia airport, and I called a client that I’d spent three years working for doing IT work, and I said, “CB” — his name’s CB Rowe (phonetic), great guy. Worked at Merillat Cabinets. I said, “CB, you know, did we make a difference in — in your life?” And he went, “Eh.” And I said, “Oh, my God, my — you know, my epitaph is going say, ‘Here lies Johns Schmidt. Eh.'”

JOHN RAMSEY: Eh.

JOHN SCHMIDT: And I didn’t want that. So practicing law has allowed me to, you know, help people and make a difference in — in times that are really stressful for them, you know, the most significant things in their life: their kids, their marriages —

JOHN RAMSEY: Yes.

JOHN SCHMIDT: — you know, their liberties in the criminal thing. So my hope is that when I die, people will show up. I mean, I hope.

JOHN RAMSEY: Okay. I — I — I don’t think you have anything to fear.

JOHN SCHMIDT: You know?

JOHN RAMSEY: David —

JOHN SCHMIDT: My hope.

JOHN RAMSEY: David, obviously, when it comes to, you know, legal — and he’s very qualified, of course, very well-schooled. A nice resume. But it does count when it’s something personal like a divorce. I mean, that’s something where you do need someone who cares, because this isn’t like business, when it’s all about the bottom line, or so and so is suing me for this or that. This – this is somebody — you — you love this person,and it’s like I want this to be as amicable, or, you know, I want to make sure that I look out for me moving forward. So are you happy with what – what Mr. Schmidt did for you?

DAVID THORNTON: I found that just the prospect of divorce was very unsettling. Particularly for a professional that just didn’t get unsettled, it’s — it’s tremendously unsettling, and I realized I could go to my book or I could go to my client list and I could find somebody, big success, big reputation, but I was already at a point where it — it was pretty daunting personally, and I just wanted somebody that was competent and I knew would have my back, and there was never a question who that was going to be.

JOHN RAMSEY: And you have an added advantage with this relationship because you were telling me, and if you have other legal problems — you’re in the insurance business, if you have issues that you’re not familiar with, you give — you give John a call, right?

DAVID THORNTON: We don’t step over that line. In my office, we do — we step right up to the line of legal. We tell people, you’re going to set up an LLC, you got to have an operating agreement. You going to use subcontractors, you got to have a sub agreement. You going to run this family business and perpetuate, you got to have a plan. And the next question is always the same thing: “Oh yeah, but I don’t have an attorney.” “Okay. If you don’t have a family attorney, I do. It’s John, give him a call.”

JOHN RAMSEY: There you go. Highly recommended, I love that. And you know him as well as anyone, so yes. John, that — I — again, that has to be nice to hear. You bring on example after example of people that are happy with the work you do.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Uh-huh. It is. It’s amazing. And — and David also is — he owns Crumbaugh (phonetic) Stables, so — and he’s the only guy I know that can buy and sell and trade horses and race them and — and — and still have an insurance agency where he takes care of his clients. You know, he has all my insurance. I was telling you that, you know, before we started, and – – and David will come in and go, “You know, I’ve shopped around for you. I found a better rate with, you know, an equally-trusted carrier with a — a great rating, and I’m going to switch you over.” I don’t have to call and ask, right? I — I —

JOHN RAMSEY: He was looking out for you?

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah. I mean, I don’t — I don’t have to call and say, “David, you know, check the rates and see if we can get something a little cheaper.” You know, David just takes a very proactive approach.

JOHN RAMSEY: There you go.

JOHN SCHMIDT: So you know what? Being a friend to him is — is no — not — not hard to do.

JOHN RAMSEY: Mutually beneficial.

JOHN SCHMIDT: He — he’s a great guy.

JOHN RAMSEY: I love that.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah. He’s a great guy. So it’s — it’s —

JOHN RAMSEY: Your insurance company, do you cover Louisville — Louisvillians as well, David?

DAVID THORNTON: I — we’re Kentucky.

JOHN RAMSEY: Okay. Good, because —

DAVID THORNTON: I — I will do surrounding states as a concession to current clients. But yeah, we’re Kentucky.

JOHN RAMSEY: Well, he just became a spokesperson for you. We got to get it out there. I mean, that’s — that’s —

DAVID THORNTON: We’ll — we’ll take it.

JOHN RAMSEY: That’s high praise.

DAVID THORNTON: Absolutely. Absolutely.

JOHN RAMSEY: Nothing wrong with that. Okay. Family law Friday. If you have an issue, whether it be a custody issue, a divorce issue, whatever the case may be, perhaps criminal activity, you’re the guy to call. First step, call, consultation, how does it work?

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah. You call the office at , talk to Pattie. Pattie is both my right and left arm, and she’ll set up a — an appointment. And we do charge for consultations because we’re very busy. So that weeds out the people who are just looking for free advice. And she’ll get you in, and we take it from there.

JOHN RAMSEY: All right.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah.

JOHN RAMSEY: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Appreciate your time, David. John, always a pleasure.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Oh, I love being with you, John. Yeah.

JOHN RAMSEY: Let’s — I do, too. Let’s get together again soon.

JOHN SCHMIDT: Let’s do it.

JOHN RAMSEY: Once again, family law Friday. Attorney John Schmidt. Okay. Coming up here, In haven’t seen him in a while. Primax Compozit Home Sys