We were lucky to catch up with Jill Roth-Gutman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jill, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the early days of establishing your own firm. What can you share?
I was the first in my immediate family to graduate from college and law school, I attended New England Law Boston, followed by a clerkship with the Superior Court of New Jersey. Practiced family, estate planning, and employment law at a small firm before becoming a Law Guardian, which is a state-appointed attorney who advocates for children involved in alleged abuse and neglect cases. I spent over 13 years advocating for hundreds of children and becoming a Child Welfare Law Specialist certified by the National Association of Counsel for Children, an organization approved by the American Bar Association. I loved working as a Law Guardian and was initially drawn to the work based on important relationships throughout my life.
I grew up in a house with parents who did not graduate from college, but were role models when it came to running successful businesses. They worked with all different types of people- my father in a warehouse, and my mother as an electrologist out of our home. Likewise, I was working with a diverse community and loved my job, but felt like I could do more and that there was a void in the legal sector that I was uniquely qualified to fill. When I would meet with children I represented, the foster parents and family members would often ask me for legal advice, which I was not permitted to give. It would be unethical to provide legal advice to someone other than my child clients and my duty was to the child. I would tell the foster parents and family they would need to consult with their own attorney, but there felt like a shortage of private attorneys who handle private DCPP cases. After working as a career Law Guardian for over a decade, l launched my own firm to focus on guiding caregivers for the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP, most people still refer to the state organization as DYFS). My primary focus started as working with foster parents, family friends, and family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and adult siblings who need assistance navigating DCPP and the child welfare system. My goal is to assist them behind the scenes, to answer their questions and hear their concerns. I provide legal consultations on a variety of topics including supervision, visitation, licensing, timelines, foster-to-adopt, as well prepare them for attending and testifying in court hearings.
Due to covid and a shift in policy, the amount of licensed foster and kinship homes dropped considerably, and less children are in the New Jersey foster system. While this was happening, a few judges requested for me to be appointed as a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to represent children on their cases in contested custody cases due to my background. I ended up loving the work. I’m calling it work, but honestly being a GAL doesn’t feel like work to me.
While I still consult with foster parents, at this time, I’ve shifted my primary child welfare focus to being a Guardian ad Litem in contested custody cases. My favorite part of being a Law Guardian was working directly with my child clients. It felt like a natural transition out of work as a Law Guardian into working as a GAL for children. In my role as a GAL, I meet with the judge and/or parents’ attorneys who let me know the main issues in the case that need to be addressed, the parents, the children, and sometimes teachers, therapists, and, if necessary other important adults such as step-parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I review court documents, evaluations, and school records. My role is an investigatory one and I write a confidential report for the court with best interest recommendations.
To round out my practice, I also provide affordable estate planning services such as Wills, Living Wills, and Powers of Attorney, finalize DCPP foster child adoptions, and file uncontested guardianships for special needs families with children turning 18 years old. I believe everyone, not just top income earners, should have estate planning documents. And, my heart is still with foster children, so I love to finalize their adoptions and be part of their special day.
For more information about GAL work, check out my 2 blog articles: https://rothgutmanlaw.com/2024/02/23/guardian-ad-litem-v-law-guardian/
What would I have done differently? Hired a bookkeeper earlier. I wanted to do it myself so I had a solid understanding before handing off the job to someone else, plus I felt like I should be earning more before outsourcing. Bookkeeping is time consuming and I could have been spending that time building my practice instead. I also have a great accountant.
What were your main steps to launching your business? I took a class with Kailey Jacomet about starting my own firm. She was instrumental in helping me focus on steps to start my practice. In the class I met, Asha Paulose, a fellow estate planning attorney who focuses on elder law. We clicked immediately and she is now my accountability partner. We have weekly calls that range from talking about not only the law, but finances and marketing. I also contract with a virtual assistant named Lisa Miller who is key to keeping me on track and assisting with administrative work.
Do you have any advice for young professionals starting their own law firm? It’s important to follow your “Why?” Build your business around something you care about. I love helping other people and in another life could have been a social worker or educator, instead of a lawyer. I wrote a blog article after my first year with 10 things I learned over the year. https://rothgutmanlaw.com/2023/03/30/thankful-for-an-unforgettable-year/
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Growing up I had a close friend throughout elementary, middle, and high school who was adopted and we spent hours talking about it. I also had a few people in my life I was and still am close to with significant childhood trauma. In college, I was in a scholar program and through it volunteered at an infant and maternity home taking care of abused and abandoned babies. Also, while in college, I started a class with a friend called multi-cultural community building. After college, I had the opportunity to volunteer with the Big Brother Big Sister program.
After graduating law school and after I clerked, I began working at a small law firm, practicing family law, estate planning, and employment law. While there a coworker told me about the Office of the Law Guardian. As soon as I heard the job, I knew it was meant for me and called often until they offered me an interview. I was persistent. I felt like it was my calling to help children. I’m proud to be a child welfare attorney since 2008 and proud to have circled back to estate planning.
It’s interesting because people often wonder if estate planning is as gratifying as child welfare law and it is! I enjoy the relief I see on my client’s faces when I finish their documents. It’s a sigh of relief usually to check something so crucial off their list. Estate planning is something no one ever wants to think about or do but everyone knows it’s important. I try to make that part of my business as easy as possible. I meet with my clients over zoom and we correspond electronically with email and forms. They only have to come into my office for the signing and are able to leave that day with their signed, original documents.
Another part of my practice that I really enjoy is I am also appointed as a Court Appointed Attorney for Alleged Incapacitated People in Guardianship cases, those are cases where someone does not have a power of attorney and usually a family member, or the state has to step in to make medical and financial decisions. It can be devastating to the family members and patients stuck in the hospital who need a trusted person to step in. Seeing that side of things makes it even more important to complete estate planning documents for people.
What do you think are your strongest traits? That’s a hard one, probably reading people and common sense. I believe both of these traits, plus honesty, and empathy assist my clients the most.
Are there any goals you’ve accomplished that you are particularly proud of that you’d like to share? One of my goals was to write a book and I did! I co-authored a book with my partner, Scott I. Gutman, a Certified Financial Planner. Between both of our disciplines we think and hope we have almost everything covered that someone would need to keep track of. How did you come up with the idea for the book? The book began as a question for ourselves before Scott was leaving on a business trip: If something were to happen to him, what would I do? The answer transformed a small list of things to remember into a life resource designed to keep not just us, but others organized. While we wrote the book for ourselves, we feel like it is something everyone should have. What type of information is in the journal? Medical Information & History, Financial & Loan History, Location of Important Documents (Wills, Power of Attorney, Passports, Marriage License, etc.), and more. Here’s a quick glimpse at the book: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCyFRm8umjl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Do you have a link to the book? Sure! Thank you for asking.
www.yourlifesjournal.com
I’ve also been a guest on a few podcasts. One is called Fast and Finance. The host and financial advisor, Patrick McCrindle, gives short nuggets of information about investing. I had the opportunity to be on the show as a guest to support local businesses. The second is called Lawyer on Your Own Terms with Kailey Jacomet. Kailey is the one who assisted me in opening my practice. I appeared with a colleague who I have an incredible amount of respect for that practices immigration law, Veronica Cardenas. The first podcast I was ever on is called the Mighty Merp with Melissa Rosenblum. I was so nervous and she was wonderful. And, I’m excited to say I just wrapped up as a guest on Rights and Remedies with Allison Mahoney which should air soon, discussing child welfare law.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I’ve been an attorney for almost 20 years. As a longtime family trial attorney, I have years of experience in the family law community including other law guardians, social workers, as well as appearing in front of several local judges. Colleagues and clients know I am going to give them an honest, empathetic, and down to earth, yet analytical response. It might not be what they want to hear, but I will be honest! I also workaholic tendencies. I’m trying really hard to stop and in the middle of reading the book Slow Productivity. I’m literally taking notes as I read.
In order to maintain these relationships and meet new people, I am active in the state bar association as a Director of the Solo and Small Firm Section, and am the Chair of the Camden County Workforce Development Board, Youth Investment Council. I also participate in several online groups like a lawyer moms group where people post questions and offer advice. I have a mentor that I rely on for advice; and I have an accountability partner to discuss firm – life, marketing, outreach, organizations, finances, time management, family. Building authentic connections provides invaluable support and encouragement in building my practice. Also, because we know each other well, have worked together, respect and support each other, we can confidently recommend each other for clients that are the right fit for our particular specialties.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I love to read and am always reading books. It’s hard to pick one.
My father always said to my sister and I, everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time, meaning no one is above or below us. People often comment that I don’t come off as an attorney. It’s probably because this lesson was taught to me when I was quite young.
My parents also used to say to us if we chose a career in something we loved we wouldn’t mind getting up in the morning to go to work. Every day is not going to be an estate plan signing or a foster child adoption, but I truly love working with my clients. Just this week I had a 10 year old child in a GAL case ask if he could come into my office every day to hang out with me and his parent was surprised he spoke with me for over 30 minutes, when he typically does not want to sit still and talk for more than 5 minutes.
As far as entrepreneurial thinkinging, before ending my work day I like to think of the 3 most important things that I would like to accomplish the following day. I try to make those things realistic depending on how many appointments, hearings, and events I have in a day. It keeps me on track with preparing documents and for appointments. I also use online tools including Lawcus, a client management system; Calendly, for scheduling; and Trello, a project management program.
Contact Info:
- Website: rothgutmanlaw.com and www.yourlifesjournal.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simplify_your_life_journal and www.instagram/rothgutmanlaw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourlifesjournal and https://www.facebook.com/rothgutmanlaw/
- Other:
Image Credits
Colette Oswald for the first photo only.