Wave Listens! Family Law Fridays - June 10, 2022
John Schmidt – June 17, 2022
JOHN RAMSEY: It is Family Law Friday. What does that entail? And how can they help you? Well, we’ll talk about that, because I have the man with me, John Schmidt, who is an attorney at the offices of John Schmidt and Associates. John, welcome back to the show.
JOHN SCHMIDT: Thanks, John.
JOHN RAMSEY: And also a client of his is with This is Charles Morris. Charles, welcome.
CHARLES MORRIS: Thank you. Thank you.
JOHN RAMSEY: Before we get into your case, and I want to do that, but before we get into how you guys are associated together, tell me a little bit about your practice, if you would, John.
JOHN SCHMIDT: Sure. We do primarily family law and criminal law. Some personal injury, but primarily family law and criminal law. So it entails, you know, divorces, both contested divorces and uncontested divorces, meaning the parties are getting along and agreeing to everything.
JOHN RAMSEY: Uh-huh. True.
JOHN SCHMIDT: Adoptions, CPS cases, custody disputes. So you have kids in common, but aren’t married, or you’re divorced and you need to deal with kids. So that’s primarily what we do.
JOHN RAMSEY: I see. Okay.
JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah. Yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY: All right. So now, Charles, first of all, tell me a little bit about yourself, and how you guys met. What — what caused you guys to come together here?
CHARLES MORRIS: Divorce. Matter of fact, I came to him about a year before I actually hired him. Three, four years ago. And went home, because I was using a local attorney. But I said, you know, “I want to keep my business out of my hometown.” So I used — I hired John eventually, and he’s been the best thing I ever had.· He really has.
JOHN RAMSEY: Yeah. I see.
CHARLES MORRIS: He has.
JOHN RAMSEY: I love hearing that. And I can understand what — what you’re saying. I’m — I’m gathering here, is that you don’t want people in your business. It’s like, “Hey, let’s keep — let’s keep that separate from what I –“
CHARLES MORRIS:· No, keep it out of town.· You know, let — let — and John handled it from out of town. And it worked well, because, you know, we — we’re farmers, and — and own a country club and a few other things. So you just want to keep it as low key as you could. And John had a five-star rate. So I come over here and — and I hired him.
JOHN RAMSEY:· So did he earn that five stars?
CHARLES MORRIS:· Yeah, he did.· I tell you, he’s told me, he said, “I’m never going to go to Henderson.”· He goes to Henderson a lot.
JOHN RAMSEY:· So he heard some things about Henderson, maybe you didn’t — you didn’t enjoy too much?
JOHN SCHMIDT:· I learned some things about Henderson. But —
JOHN RAMSEY: Okay. Okay. I got you. I got you.
CHARLES MORRIS:· But we — we become friends, too, so it works well.
JOHN SCHMIDT:· He drove 10 hours to get here for this.
CHARLES MORRIS:· Yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY:· Whoa.
CHARLES MORRIS:· Well, he called me and said, “Can you do it?”· So I jumped in the truck and drove here from Florida just so I could be here.
JOHN RAMSEY:· Man, I’d say you’re good friends.
CHARLES MORRIS:· Well —
JOHN RAMSEY:· That’s a commitment.· So obviously making a 10-hour drive to come on this show and speak very highly of Mr. Schmidt here, that — that’s a commitment.· So what was it that impressed you so — a lot?· I mean, you said he kept — he kept your business private, but were there other things too, Charles?
CHARLES MORRIS:· Well, we — in — in the Courtroom, I mean, it — it’s like anything. His — his stature and — and the way — way he held himself and, you know — I — you know, some — and I’m not knocking attorneys, but, you know, some of them just doesn’t have that gift, and he had that gift. And I didn’t — I didn’t want just to — I want — I wanted an attorney, one that would stood up for me.
JOHN RAMSEY: There we go.
CHARLES MORRIS: So — and — and he’s — he’s done it for me.
JOHN RAMSEY: You know, I — I — I find that easy to believe because I’ve had John on the show before, and he had presence. And you heard him. When he came in, I said, “Oh, this guy’s going to be fine.”
CHARLES MORRIS:· Yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY: There is a lot to be said for that, because if it does get in a situation where it’s getting a little bit of combative there, you do need someone to stand up for you.
JOHN SCHMIDT: Yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY: So — so John tell me a little bit about your background. And I guess I want to hear more about, you know, the way you handle a divorce case that may be contentious.
JOHN SCHMIDT: Okay. So my background is a little different. So I — I taught at the DePaul school for years and ran their boarding program for a little while, and decided teaching was the hardest job I’d ever had. And it wasn’t for me. So I was sick every day by 4:00 and — and it was just too much. So teachers really earn their pay.· And so I — I just said, “I’m good at school, so I went back to school.” Any event, I got out my MBA/JD, and I had worked as a prosecutor for a while. I ran companies and did turnaround work. And — and then my ex-wife at some point in time said, “If you don’t stop traveling, I’m going to divorce you.” So I stopped. I — I was already a lawyer. And my first client was a divorce client. So I became a divorce lawyer. And she divorced me anyway.
JOHN RAMSEY: Oh my goodness.
JOHN SCHMIDT: So…
JOHN RAMSEY: I’m glad you can laugh about it.
JOHN SCHMIDT: I can, I really can. I can. She’s a great lady, Dr. Kara Schmidt, she’s fantastic.
JOHN RAMSEY: Good.
JOHN SCHMIDT:· And she’s amazing. Practices out in Simpsonville, and great lady. So we get along great, had three kids. It’s wonderful. But what I — what I learned from all that is, if I can be consultative, and do it with my client, and we do it as a team, and collaborate, and really take a collaborative approach, that works really well. Some clients don’t like to put the effort into their case. You know, they want to phone in work or e-mail in work, but I prefer to sit down with a client and make sure that I understand stuff. Because if I say to Charles, “Blue,” he may think Kentucky blue, and I may think sky blue.
CHARLES MORRIS: And — and it’s a lot of give and take. We — we’ve had a lot of grumbling. He’ll — I’ll be like, “Joe — john, no.” He’ll be like, “Yeah, Charles. This is what we’re going to do.” I’ll say, “Okay, that’s what we’re going do.” So…
JOHN RAMSEY: And it worked out well for you.
CHARLES MORRIS: And — and it’s worked out, yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY: Yeah. He’s — he’s good — good advice. Something I noticed about your resume, John. And I want to point this out because I think it’s important.· And some people may not think about this when they think about the — choosing an attorney.· But you were a Special Educations teacher.
JOHN SCHMIDT: I was.
JOHN RAMSEY:· Which to me says that you have empathy, compassion, that you really want to help others. That’s a big part of your mission statement, isn’t it?
JOHN SCHMIDT: It’s 100 percent why I do it. Yeah. It — and I think I tried teaching my kids this. If you can be outward focused, and focus on others, and use your talents to help other people, then I think you’re doing what God’s commanded us to do. I — I — you know, I think you’re using your talents on earth to do his will.· And — and so I have never felt more satisfied than — than this. And Patty Hess is — is here with us.· And she works with me and she’s fantastic.· And — and I have great clients like Charles.· It’s just been very fulfilling and very satisfying to be able to help people. And when I can, that’s — you know, it’s a great day of work.
JOHN RAMSEY: Yeah. I love hearing that. Because I — I noticed that and I said, “He’s — he taught Special Education.” That’s pretty rare for an attorney to have that mix of, you know, compassion, and then also to be knowledgeable and obviously very well accomplished. So Charles, if someone was coming to you and they’re going through a divorce, and maybe things are getting a little heated, or maybe it’s a little odd, like it sounds like yours was, the — the town —
CHARLES MORRIS: Yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY: — and things that were going on. What would you tell them about recommending Mr. Schmidt here?
CHARLES MORRIS: I would definitely — I mean, I would. I mean, I would rec — I’d recommend him to my friends. I mean, he’s just — he’s kept me in check, and it’s kind of hard to keep me in check. And so he — he’s kept me in check and made me realize that I’m not always right. And, you know, I need to — so it worked out. And it — and I — I recommend him to anybody. I really — he’s a good attorney. He really is.
JOHN RAMSEY: And you’re a good man for — you’re a good friend for coming —
CHARLES MORRIS: Yeah.
JOHN RAMSEY: — in 10 hours. My goodness.
CHARLES MORRIS: Well, I — I — I told him, I said, “I wouldn’t do this for anybody but you. But I — I drove all night to get here. So…
JOHN RAMSEY: My goodness. Well, that speaks volumes, right there, John. Congratulations. And I’m glad that you two have formed a friendship. And it seems — I would’ve guessed — it’s pretty obvious to see. You’re a happier man now than you were prior to seeing John.
CHARLES MORRIS: Much happier. I was miserable. I was really miserable. I mean, I didn’t know where to turn, you know.
JOHN RAMSEY: It’s hard.
CHARLES MORRIS: You know, so…
JOHN SCHMIDT: And it had drug on for a while.
CHARLES MORRIS: I mean, it took, I don’t know, four-and-a-half years to get divorced or something like that. It took — it was ugly. And John kind of simplified it and said, “Charles, you know, it’sgoing to be okay.” Because I didn’t never think it going to be okay.
JOHN RAMSEY: You know — and — and I think, you know, you marry someone because — because you love them. So it’s hard.· Regardless of the situation, it’s a hard thing to go through. So the fact that you’re feeling better mentally, it says a lot. John Schmidt, we — in our final 30 seconds here, if you would, folks who — who like your approach, have listened to a very, very authentic client, how can they get ahold of you? What do they need to do?
JOHN SCHMIDT: They call the office at . Talk to Patty Hess.
CHARLES MORRIS: She’s the real boss.
JOHN SCHMIDT: — she’s the —
JOHN RAMSEY: She’s the real boss as Charles — Charles would know.