We recently connected with Betsy Tanner and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Betsy, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever seen (or implemented) a really awesome way to show a client you appreciate them
I focus my law practice on adoption and probate law. Many think of adoption as beautiful and kindhearted, which is certainly true. I also like to remind people that adoption always involves heartache and evokes a wide range of emotions and experiences including loss, sadness, regret, joy, bliss, and contentment. Creating a forever family requires love, time, patience and sacrifice. Often children have endured loss and heartache along the way. The adoptive families walk through these emotions with kids while also experiencing their own wide range of emotions.
Our law office wanted to make our adoption clients feel loved and our adopted kids feel special. So, we hired a photographer and offered free mini photo sessions one Saturday at a local park. We sent out invitations to all of our current and past adoption clients to sign up for a time for a free photo session. The day of the event was a chilly and beautiful spring morning. We had clients we had not seen in years and clients for whom we had finalized their adoption within the past couple of months. They all enjoyed beautiful pictures of their families with a professional photographer. We sent them links so they could download any and all of their pictures for free.
We received lots of positive feedback from this client appreciation event. We hope our forever families felt love and now their families have beautiful (and fun!) photos.
Betsy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I am an adoption and probate attorney. I have my own law practice in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. I represent clients all over the state of South Carolina.
Adoption in particular has always been a passion of mine. This passion is rooted in my own life story. In 1980 there was a young woman in Columbia, SC who found out that she was pregnant again. She was divorced, had a 4 year old and had already placed another child for adoption. She was depressed and in no place to raise a child. The baby’s father was not an option for parenting. She chose life and in the spring of 1981, I was born.
I went into a foster home for the first 7 weeks of my life. I’ve heard that I was carried constantly and loved well. I’ve never met that family, but I’m still pretty sure that experience has shaped me.
Sometime in April of that year, my parents and older brother were in Disney World. My Aunt was watering the flowers at their house when the phone rang. Obviously these are the days before cell phones and obviously she was comfortable enough answering the phone at her sister’s house. Even more obviously, God’s timing (even when it comes to watering flowers) is perfect.
My aunt got in touch with my parents to tell them they had received the call they had been for and been matched with a little baby girl. They cut their trip to Disney short, much to the chagrin of my brother, and drove back home. On the way, they stopped in Columbia and picked me up to bring me home. This still blows my mind!!! While they were on the way home, word spread to their family and friends, and by the time they got home, a full nursery was set up in their house. They were well loved.
I had a wonderful childhood. I graduated Shannon Forest Christian School, went to Furman University and then went on to law school at the University of Georgia School of Law. For those who care, I’m a 3 on the enneagram.
I didn’t know exactly what to focus my law practice on, but after I had my first adoption client, I realized that was something I would like to pursue. It’s funny because life experiences certainly shape you, but you don’t always realize it until later.
I decided to focused my law practice on adoption law and several years I had a client who lives in Columbia. When their baby boy was born, I went to the hospital to be with them while the birth mom signed the documents allowing them to adopt. I was holding the baby and we were talking about adoption. I told them I was adopted and actually that I was born in Columbia at Richland Memorial Hospital. They looked back at me and let me know that was the hospital we were currently in. I was standing in the very hospital where I was born and had been placed for adoption holding a sweet baby boy while his birth mom signed papers allowing him to be adopted.
My husband and I are also foster parents and we have adopted out of foster care.
My personal experience sets me apart for my job. I care deeply about adoption and I believe that helps me be the best adoption attorney that I can be. I’m proud of my work!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I worked with another attorney for twelve years. He invested in me and helped me build my confidence and my law practice. Covid hit us all in 2020. Thankfully, while business was a bit slower, the legal field was still sustainable. However, during 2020 along with the chaos of homeschooling 3 kids, shutdowns, quarantines and the like, it became clear that it was my time to part ways from the attorney I had worked with for so many years.
At the end of 2020 when it seemed the worst possible timing, I knew I needed to go out on my own and start my own law practice. I was nervous, but felt like the timing was right. My paralegal stayed with my former law firm so I was completely on my own, which I had never been in my years of working as a lawyer.
I leased one room in another law office and set out on my own in January of 2021. I felt like my clients were loyal and my law practice strong, but I certainly didn’t know what the future held. Despite my fears, I pushed through and I was successful. For the first 6 weeks, I answered the phones, I did the mail, I answered all the emails and I did all the legal work.
I was resilient and it paid off. I learned that my overhead before was way too high and by lowering overhead and working on my own, I could in fact make more money (and be happier) that I had ever been before.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I feel like I have a good reputation with clients, attorneys, and the Courts in which I practice. I attribute this reputation to always doing my work with excellence and kindness. I work hard to make sure everything my office produces is done correctly and with integrity. I communicate well and quickly with my clients and with opposing counsel. Even when cases are hotly contested, I believe in showing respect to everyone involved. Integrity, respect, and excellence leads to a solid reputation in my field.
Contact Info:
- Website: betsytannerlaw.com
- Instagram: @betsytannerlaw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betsytannerlaw
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-tanner-35099a72/
Image Credits
Joanna Kilgore and Anna Bargeron