Transcript

​​Nikita Lamar: Your sanity, emotionally and spiritually in all those ways, should be at the forefront, because if it’s not, you’re not going to have much time to be able to manage other people’s issues. You’re

Voiceover: You’re listening to The Texas Family Law Insiders podcast, your source for the latest news and trends in family law in the state of Texas. Now, here’s your host, attorney Holly Draper.

Holly Draper: Today I’m excited to welcome Nikita Lamar to The Texas Family Law Insiders podcast. Nikita earned her JD from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in 2014, and in 2016, she founded Lamar Legal Group, PLLC. As a proud member of the Family Law and LGBTQIA+ sections of the State Bar of Texas, as well as Collaborative Divorce Texas, Nikita is deeply invested in advocating for diverse communities.

Beyond her legal pursuits, Nikita finds joy in cooking gourmet meals for both restaurants and private gatherings. She currently resides in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and seamlessly manages her law practice from there, frequently traveling to her principal office in Houston, Texas. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Nikita: Absolutely. I appreciate you inviting me. I’m happy to be here.

Holly: So why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself?

Nikita: Absolutely. So I’m originally from Alabama. I went to college in Nashville, Tennessee, at Tennessee State University. And after that, I moved to Houston. And I was actually slated to go to law school at that time. I was 23, I believe.

And I had some complications with family, we thought we were going to lose my grandfather. Just a lot of things happened. And so I had to take a leave of absence. And in doing that, I didn’t go back right away. Life happens. And I went into nonprofit. And I was in the nonprofit arena for about 10 years. And I built my career there.

And then I said I needed to complete what I said I was going to do. And so I went back to law school. So I was later in law school, you know, I was a later entry into law school. I was 30, or 31, I believe. And so I went to law school at Thurgood Marshall School of Law.

And that was actually the same school that I was slated to go to when I first moved to Houston. So it was meant to be, and graduated and started my practice a year after I graduated from Thurgood. So I graduated in 2014. So actually two years after. So in 2016, is when I started my firm. And here we are now. So how

Holly: So how would you describe your current practice?

Nikita: I would describe it as a multidisciplinary practice. We are an asset protection firm essentially. So what that means is people have things that happened to them like divorce, like someone passing away, and it jolts them. And those are the people that we assist. And we assist them with the protection of their familial assets, with their financial assets, because we also handle estates and probate cases.

So I do have a multidisciplinary firm. Family law is a big part of our practice. But it’s not the only section. But it’s a very big part of my practice. So we practice in the areas of family law, probate, and estate planning. About two to three years ago, we added trademark registration. And I’ve been working with businesses for quite some time.

Marking them, slogans, and logos and all that kind of stuff. I didn’t advertise it because I wanted to get more practice in it. I wanted to also get more education in it. And so once I did that, then I took on some clients. That’s a very small portion of our firm, but it’s definitely a part of it. I love it. I can help people from anywhere because it’s federal.

So those are, those are our primary practices. We’re a virtual office as well. So we’re fully remote. Everyone who works for me is remote. I have a couple of people who work with me, employees who work in Houston, who are actually living in Houston, but everyone else lives in other areas.

Holly: So I wanted to have you on the podcast because you are living the dream of actually being a lawyer on the beach. I’m going to guess that you’re in the Facebook group, Lawyer on the Beach.

Nikita: I am. I am.

Holly: Many of us really feel like we could only dream of actually doing that and it seems like an unrealistic option for someone who does a practice like family law. But today we’re gonna kind of go through how that’s not the case and how you make that happen and maybe inspire a few other people to actually live that dream. So how long have you been living in a foreign country? How long have you been doing this?

Nikita: So I moved to Puerto Vallarta in September of 2022. So I’ve been here since September of 2022. And I started thinking about living abroad, though, a long time ago. It’s been something that I’ve been thinking about for at least four years, but I finally made the decision to in 2022.

Holly: It’s one of those things, you know, I’ve kind of made this conscious decision in my life. When you see other people doing things, and you’re like, that’s really cool. I wish I could do that. But you never actually do it. I’m 45 years old now. I’m reaching that point where I’m like, you know what, I need to start actually doing it. Why did those people do it? And we don’t. So I would imagine that the pandemic really made it easy to make this sort of a switch because everyone became so much more accustomed to working virtually. Do you think that played a role in it for you?

Nikita: For me, the pandemic did play a role in it, but not in that in that way. Now, of course, I did think about the ease of it, when we are able to meet virtually. Like we’re able to meet virtually, it makes it easier, seemingly, because we still have courts who do not subscribe to us being remote for certain things.

But for me, the switch was mental and spiritual. It was more on that side. I started thinking, well, how much time do I think that I have? I’m saying that I want to do all these things. I’m saying that I’m not happy with the way that I’m running my practice. I am not a traditional attorney in that sense. I’ve never been.

And embracing that, and saying that it’s okay. It’s okay that you want to be a lawyer on the beach. It’s okay, that you don’t want to have a practice that looks like everybody’s practice, right? So during that time, for me, the switch occurred, because I looked at the fact that I wasn’t as happy in my practice.

I was always stressed. I did not participate in things as much that I love to do. Like cooking, and I didn’t do I wasn’t doing a lot of that. I was just working. That was it. I was working every day all day. And I loved it. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I feel that it’s something that I’m called to do.

But there are other things that I’m called to do. There are other things that I’m interested in. And so the switch for me was to figure out that if this is the way that you want a practice to be run, build it. Build it that way. Build a practice in which you would actually want to work in if you weren’t associated with it.

If you didn’t know Lamar Legal Group, if you didn’t if you were not associated the way that you are, would you want to work in this practice? And so that was the switch for me. But it did occur around that time. That’s when I made my decision to go ahead and do it.

Holly: So how has your life improved since you made this change?

Nikita: Oh, man. There is more of a calming effect in the way that I practice that I’ve noticed. And I’m not saying that it’s only because I moved to a foreign country. It was a shift in my mindset, it was a lot of different things. It was a shift in my client avatar, right? You know, the type of clients that I wanted to serve.

But for me, I needed to just get out of that hustle culture, so that I can listen to myself on the creative side and figure out how can I build this. Because you do have to have a certain creativity to this because you’re not in the mix, right? I’m not in Houston all the time. So how am I going to market? How am I going to do these things?

But it was very, it became difficult for me to hear myself when I was in the hustle culture. And I was so distracted. I just needed some kind of peace and I had to figure out how can I give that to myself knowing that I can’t stop working right now. I don’t have that option. I wish I did.

Holly: Don’t we all!

Nikita: Right! You know and also I wanted a different lived experience, Holly, to be honest with you. Like I said, it was a lot of repetition. And for some people that’s great for them. They find comfort in that. But for me, I wanted a different lived experience. I wanted to learn another language, I wanted to understand how it would affect me to actually live in a different country.

Learning to trust yourself in certain instances more and all these things, I wanted that. And we often want these things, but then we’re waiting in order to get it. We’re waiting. And a lot of times you have to ask yourself, but how can I give myself the lived experience that I’m waiting on? So that’s why I made the decision that I did.

Holly: So what do you think were the keys in allowing you to maintain a Texas law practice while living abroad?

Nikita: So keeping a tight schedule is the first thing. Making sure that we calendar everything because if it’s not on the calendar, it’s not gonna happen a lot of times. So I had to tighten up that calendaring system. And the most important thing was delegation. I’m used to doing everything myself. And a lot of us get stuck in that cycle.

We’re used to doing everything ourselves, we have to touch everything, and to a certain degree you do, but sometimes it should be more oversight, as opposed to you actually performing the task. And because I am a part of the population, that I don’t yet have the capability to go out and get a $200,000 loan. I will be, but I can’t right now.

But I still want it to grow. And so that’s where the creativity comes in, because I have to figure out grassroots marketing. Things that I can do within my firm, that are going to bring business in. Collaboration, like collaborative work.

Meaning that you partner with other attorneys, or talk to other attorneys who don’t practice in the areas that you’re practicing in, and form relationships with those individuals so that maybe they can be the funnel into your business as it relates to practice areas that they don’t touch. So all of those things, it was it was a culmination of things that makes it possible for me to actually run the firm in Texas. And it wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t have a great team.

Holly: Can you kind of walk us through the steps or how you got from, I’m living in Texas running my firm, I’m not happy, to I have this idea, to now you actually live somewhere else and run your practice from there.

Nikita: To be honest with you, it was really just the decision. It was the decision to do it. You remember you were saying before, that a lot of us think about things and we dream about it and say I would love to, but then there is no action. And I just had to spring into action. Like I said, I had been thinking about living abroad for a long time.

People who know me personally know that I love to travel. And so I was traveling prior to, but I wasn’t staying. I didn’t know what the experience was going to be living there. And so people ask me this a lot. And you would think I would have like a snappy answer. But it really was just a decision.

That’s all it was, it was the decision to see if this was gonna happen. To see if we can make it happen. And so that’s what I did. I believe it or not hopped in my car, and drove. I drove for three days. Because I wanted to have my car. And I had a dog. I have a dog. And there were some embargoes where he couldn’t travel with me.

And so I couldn’t leave him because I had just gotten him not too long before. So we hopped in the car and drove for three days and got here and got settled. And we figured it out. I did some research on attorneys who practice abroad who are expat attorneys. Some people call them expat attorneys.

Some people call them immigrant attorneys. But I did some research on some of the issues that they would face about confidentiality and things like that. And that actually helped me out when I was going through the border because, for instance, I read about confidentiality and officers sometimes confiscating phones.

And you may have client information on those phones. And so I made sure that I wiped those phones of that information prior to me going over the border and my car was tossed by the policia. So, I just did a little bit of research prior to, but most of the things that I’ve learned I’ve learned through doing. Because there’s not a lot of people who are practicing this way.

I really didn’t have anyone that I could call right away. I didn’t know of anybody. I’m meeting people now, who do that. I met a young lady who works from Spain. She lives in Barcelona. I’ve met another guy who lives in Playa Del Carmen. So it’s a few, but I just didn’t know any. So I had to kind of make it up myself. Which is what we’re doing now.

Holly: So how long was it between when you said, I’m going to do this, to when you actually were on the road heading there?

Nikita: About a year. About a year. I made some really big changes between 2021 and 2022. Major life changes. And it was about a year when I started thinking about it, until the execution, because I had to have some time.

Because you’re you’re not winding up your practice, in that you’re still going to be practicing. But you are winding up your physical office because I’ve always had a physical office. And so you know, figuring out what your virtual office is going to look like.

What’s compliant with the State Bar? What’s not compliant with the State Bar? What are you going to do about client confidentiality? So I needed some time to plan. And so I did take some time to plan. But about a year from when I said, I’m doing this, I’m definitely doing this, and the time that I got in the car was about a year.

Holly: So what made you choose Puerto Vallarta? And were there any other places that you considered?

Nikita: Honestly, I was drawn here. I don’t know how else to say it. But also, the thing that I considered though when I considered where I wanted to move is distance. How long is it going to take me to get to Houston, if I need to get there right away? Now we manage our practice in a way that that’s not something that happens, but you can’t say that it won’t happen, right? Especially if you end up having a lot of high-conflict cases.

But even with the high conflict cases, we usually try to work that calendaring system, but I thought about proximity. That was number one. And then I thought about infrastructure. Where are there larger numbers of expats who are professionals?

And also the fact that I was limited and still a bit limited in my Spanish. I thought about that, too. So those are some things that people consider or should consider. You think about, of course, safety. Puerto Vallarta is one of the safest places in Mexico and has been for years. So I thought about all those things.

So this was the best option for me in the beginning. And I love it. I’m so glad that I ended up here. It was a great, great start. I don’t know how long I’ll be traveling. But for right now, I really like Puerto Vallarta. But I thought about all of those things when I was considering where it is that I would want to set up an anchor.

Holly: Can you describe for us what your typical week or month looks like when you’re living abroad and practicing here?

Nikita: Absolutely. It looks a lot like my days did when I was in Houston. But the difference is, is that sometimes I can take some breaks and do things here that I wouldn’t be able to do in Houston. But my days look a lot like they did before. It’s a lot of coordination because I do have a staff now.

So I touch base with them twice a week, at least for case updates and case management. So a lot of case management, because we want to make sure that we don’t miss any deadlines and that everyone’s case is getting touched. But I still wake up around the same time. Things like that.

People think, oh, you live in Mexico, you probably don’t get up until one o’clock. No, no, because I still have to be on Zoom sometimes. I still have to speak with clients, I still have my days where I have consults. So it looks a lot like what it did before in terms of the work. The difference is, is that I have a rooftop.

So I can go and look at the city, I can look at the ocean, I can calm myself down. I work in areas that are familial in nature. Family law, probate, estate planning, all those things, they carry emotions when a person passes away or when you have a life-changing event like divorce or modifications and things like that.

So, the stress of those types of cases is still around. But I have had the opportunity to focus more on my emotional regulation when it comes to those things. Because I know that you know people who have worked in these areas for years, and it does affect them. It affects their emotions.

I know you’ve met people who are OCs and you’re like man, you know these are just kids, right? But I don’t want to be that way. I don’t want to be that way. I don’t feel like I’m my most effective if that’s the space that I’m operating in. As your attorney, you want me to be calm, cool, and collected. That’s what you should want. You should want me to be at my best. And so I have been operating out of that space more with the changes that I’ve made.

Voiceover: This episode of The Texas Family Law Insiders podcast is sponsored by The Draper Law Firm. Providing family law litigation in Collin, Denton, and Dallas counties and appeals across Texas. For more information, visit draperfirm.com, or call 469-715-6801.

Holly: So how often do you go to Houston to go to court or whatever? Do you have a set I do hearings this week of the month or anything like that?

Nikita: No, because I have two associate attorneys. And so as long as we’re coordinating, I usually have someone to cover if it’s something ancillary. Now, when it’s trial time and contested hearings then I’m there, but a lot of that, believe it or not, has been controlled a bit more by me changing my client avatar.

And what I mean by that is me thinking about the type of clients that I actually want to service. Because as service providers, we usually think about, well who wants me? Who wants my services? But you’re vetting one another, right? And so I tapped into that more. And when I’m speaking with someone, when I’m consulting with them, I’m not just listening to if they can pay me, that’s the least of my worries.

But are you a good fit for the culture of the firm? Even as a client, you know. And so tapping into that has actually allowed me to not have as many cases where we are expending a lot of energy with bringing the client back to reality, so to speak. So that frees me up a lot. I know you know what I mean by that.

Holly: Yes. Definitely. We have all been there.

Nikita: We have all been there. And you know, don’t get me wrong, I still have some who slipped through the cracks because they fooled me a little bit. But for the most part, tapping into that has been a huge shift from my practice. I mean a huge shift.

And I understand that thinking about things in that way, sometimes seems a little far-fetched when you are a solo practicing attorney or have a smaller firm or even a midsize firm, because you’re always thinking about the overhead. But what I have learned in my almost eight years of practice, I think, now, eight, nine, is that all money isn’t good money.

And all clients aren’t for you, and you aren’t for all clients. And your sanity, emotionally and spiritually, in all those ways, it should be at the forefront. Because if it’s not, you’re not going to have much time to be able to manage other people’s issues. So I know it sounds very hippieish of me.

But I have really been looking at those things more than just the numbers. And because of that, the numbers have increased. And it’s more manageable in a sense because these are clients who don’t require so much of my energy outside of what I’m doing for you legally. And so that has made a very big difference in the way that I’ve been able to manage my practice, whether abroad, or if I, you know, was in Houston.

Holly: So when it comes to setting up a law firm that you can run virtually from a distance, what are the key pieces of technology that you have found you needed to make that happen?

Nikita: Of course, a good client management system. Whether you’re talking about Clio or My Case or Lawmatics, whatever it is that you utilize. So I have that. I personally use My Case but I’ve been looking at Lawmatics a little bit. But having staff members who are as tapped into your business as you are, in a sense.

Having people who understand what your mission is, understand what it is that we do. And that’s part of you creating that culture. But that’s a big, a big reason why I’m able to do what I’m able to do is because the people that I’ve been blessed with, on my staff, they are tapped in. Even though they’re entrepreneurs themselves, all of them are.

And I love it. I love the fact that they are. I think I said calendaring before, but that’s a very big thing. Of course, having tax professionals, financial professionals, who are on board, to make sure that you’re doing what you need to do in that respect. I think those are some, and of course, the logistics.

Making sure that you have a virtual office space, make sure that office space is set up to where you can receive the mail that you need to receive. I know that sounds so elementary, but I even had to switch virtual offices because I wasn’t receiving my mail the way that I should. So those types of things, just making sure that as tight as possible. Those are some of the things that I would say.

Holly: With the mail, have you found a system where mail gets sent there? They’ll scan it, and process it, and all that for you, or do you have one of your employees that is going in and getting the mail?

Nikita: I have my legal assistant, who goes in and gets the mail, and she does that, at least two to three times a week. Normally, it’s like two times a week. But she she does it, she scans it for me. She goes through all of it. And she’s been working with me, essentially, since I started. The last year she’s been on more full-time, but before she would do projects and everything. So she’s very familiar with my practice and how I run things. And so I’ve been really lucky in that sense. But yeah, she goes and picks it up for me.

Holly: What are the tax implications you’ve had to deal with, with running your practice from another country?

Nikita: So I am not a tax attorney. So I tiptoe around it. However, I will say this. Wherever it is that you want to practice from, right, whether you know it’s Costa Rica, I know some people and all that, you have to make sure that you don’t have tax implications.

Even if you’re only working from there, and your business is in the US. Depending on where you are is going to be dependent on whether or not you have to pay taxes if you’re actually working in that country. Now, in Mexico, it is not that way.

If your business is in the US, and you’re not working as you know, an attorney here, you don’t have any work here, which I do not I do not practice law here, then you don’t have to pay them in a way in which you would if you were working for a Mexican law firm. If I was working for a law firm here, if I was interning or something like that, then absolutely. I have business here. So there are different types of professional expats.

And so depending on how it is that you’re working, if you are actually only working US cases, here, then no, but somewhere else, you may still have to pay. So, I don’t know about every country. That’s why wherever it is that you decide that you want to set up shop, you need to ask those questions. Find a tax professional to ask those questions.

Holly: Are there any licensing issues, like, does the Texas Bar have any regulations that apply or that would prevent somebody from living somewhere else and practicing in Texas?

Nikita: So I recently conducted a CLE on that topic. I didn’t go in-depth, but I did touch on some things like confidentiality and things like that. A simple answer to your question is not that I know of. Meaning that I have not read, in me reading over confidentiality and things like that. I have not read where you are barred from doing so.

But you do have certain considerations like the confidentiality, the client communication that you have to consider. So things like making sure that you have a VPN that you’re working from at all times that are dedicated specifically to your practice and those clients.

Making sure that you prevent confiscation as much as you can, and that you’re aware of what documents are on devices when you’re traveling, especially depending on where you’re traveling to. I don’t have as many of those problems going back and forth to Mexico, especially from Puerto Vallarta because it’s a tourist attraction.

People come here to vacation all the time. So people coming back and forth is not something that they’re too concerned about, for the most part. I am a temporary resident. I did start that process when I got here because I didn’t know how long I wanted to be here.

And so I thought, why not? So I have not seen where we are barred from it. But I can say that there are certain considerations that you may not have to worry about as much when you’re in the US that you have to pay attention to. Like those things that I just mentioned.

Holly: What would you say are the biggest downsides, if any, to living abroad while maintaining a practice in Texas?

Nikita: For me personally, I can’t say that there are many downsides to it. There are challenges sometimes when it comes to infrastructure. And that’s why it depends on where it is that you’re wanting to set up shop. You have to do a little research to see what people are saying about the infrastructure.

Tap into those expat communities located in the place where you want to go and ask the questions. Puerto Vallarta, it’s, like I said, it’s a tourist attraction. They have so many spaces that you can go to if you need to access WiFi and things like that. Most places where you’re living, they have WiFi.

But when you think about challenges, no matter where it is that you want to set up shop in another country, considerations for infrastructure is a big thing. I personally can’t say as many downsides. Now, if you want to say personally, what’s a downside, or something that is a bit more complicated is me getting my hair done.

That’s a personal thing. But that’s one thing that I here in Puerto Vallarta there’s really nowhere that I would want to go to get my hair done. So I usually have to do it myself, or when I come back to the States, I get it done.

But that’s really one of the major downsides, but that is because of where I’m located. You know, if I was in Colombia, I wouldn’t really have that problem probably. If I was in Jamaica, I wouldn’t have that problem. But, yeah, so that’s really the only one that I can say, to be honest. I’m sure there are others, but for me not really.

Holly: Yeah, there’s probably a lot of little things where you just never even think about how you do things a certain way where you live in the United States, and that option is not available, or it’s totally different. Just the cultural differences at all that is fascinating. I aspire to do this one day myself.

Nikita: You will. You will. It starts with you saying that this is what I’m going to do, right? Not this is what I want to do, this is what I aspire. No, you’re going to do it. You set it in motion. When you say it, then it’s already done. It’s just you start making your steps no matter how small. Whether it’s just tapping into the expat community. You belong to that Facebook group, Lawyers on the Beach?

Holly: Yes.

Nikita: Yeah. Even that, that’s a step because you’re getting information, you’re reading posts about people who are doing these things. So for anybody who is interested in it, and it seems like something that they can’t fathom, then start small.

Say, I’m gonna go for a week, pick a location. Okay, I’m gonna go to Costa Rica for a week. I am going to work from Costa Rica for a week. And then you set it up so that you can do that. That’s a small step, but it is a step towards what it is that you ultimately are going to do.

But yeah, I mean, whenever you want to talk, if you have questions, feel free to just call me or send me a message. And I will be glad to be honest with you about whatever it is. But you’re right, the difference, I think with me is the smaller things that may seem annoying to some people.

I try to take it all in stride, right, because it was my choice to live here. Nobody made me come live here. So it seems a bit useless for me to complain about certain things like heat or humidity or whatever. I knew that when I moved here.

I knew there may be infrastructure issues that are a little bit different. I knew that the way that they operate here is different. The government is different. And don’t get me wrong, I get in my spaces where I’m like, ugh. But I have to bring it back. Nobody asked you to move here. You moved here.

So I make the best of it. And some of it is like, quirky the way that things happen. And it’s like a good story. Like, I’ll share one with you. I can be a bit absent-minded when it comes to my personal things. And so I received a light bill like I do every month. And in my head, I was like, oh, I have a few more days, right?

Because then the US it’s like, oh, I have a few more days. I had the money. That wasn’t the issue. But me being absent-minded, I said, oh, I have a few more days. Don’t do that here. Everybody warned me. Everybody warned me about this, Holly. Like everybody said, do not let that happen.

Because it’s going to be about two to four days before your stuff is back on. Listen, I went a whole year without that happening. And the last month that I was in my previous place, I let it lapse. I was on my way. And they cut it off three days.

But that was on me. I can’t be mad because I didn’t do what I needed to do. I said it in my head, oh, I’m gonna stop by. I’m gonna stop by. But the way they do things is different here, and they turn things on when they feel like it. I learned my lesson.

Holly: So what would you say is the absolute best thing about living abroad while maintaining your practice in Texas?

Nikita: Just one thing? Okay, I’m going to cheat, and I’m gonna say the lived experience because that means that it’s all-encompassing. The experience in its entirety. The culture, the food, the people, the community, and just my ability to remove myself for a little while, so that I can hear myself, if that makes sense. But the entire experience of it has been pretty amazing for me. Good, bad, indifferent, I don’t regret it.

I don’t know how long like I said, if I had to come back next year. If I had to come back in a few months, I would still be very grateful for my ability to be able to have experienced my practice in this way. And to be able to have experienced life in this way. That and the views. I can’t lie, Holly. The views are pretty spectacular. Yeah. So, yeah.

Holly: You don’t get those in Houston.

Nikita: You don’t! I love Houston. I love Houston. I love it. It’s home, I have a great time every time I come back. Even if I’m there for trial, or whatever the case may be. I love Houston. It’s two different worlds, though. So you can’t even compare it. But no, you don’t get those views in Houston at all.

Holly: So we’re just about out of time, but one thing I ask everyone who comes on the podcast is, if you could give one piece of advice to young family lawyers, what would it be?

Nikita: Oh man. One piece? Be true to yourself. Be true to yourself. Don’t be afraid to deviate from what is deemed traditional, what is deemed to be correct. What is deemed to be the only way to be right. The closer you get to those types of views, you should want to run away. In my opinion, because there’s always another way to do something. It may not be the popular way. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a way.

So I would say stay true to yourself, professionally and personally because I think that as service providers in this field, we think a lot of sometimes about what the community is gonna think. What your colleagues are going to think. And I’m not saying that there’s not space for that.

But I think that we give it too much space, and we let that limit us in ways in which we don’t have to. I didn’t meet anyone who was doing this when I was in law school. They, for the most part, the legal community, can be and has been very stringent in the way that they want things to occur and the way that they want things to operate.

But, one thing that is certain is change. Change is certain. And we are in the space that’s changing even in the family law arena. The way that people are choosing to run their practices, and the way the clients are choosing to have their cases handled. So I would just say to a younger attorney, still staying true to yourself, your beliefs, and the way that you want to operate your practice, and you’ll find your way.

Holly: So where can our listeners go if they want to learn more about you?

Nikita: I am Lamar Legal Group, PLLC on most platforms. I’m on Facebook, I have a business page on Facebook. I’m Nikita Lamar for my personal, which I kind of use as a business page as well. I am also on TikTok as your amicable attorney and on IG as your rebel attorney.

And I’m on LinkedIn as well under my name, Nikita Lamar. So I can be found on most platforms. I am not, I’m on social media. I’m probably more active on Facebook and LinkedIn, though. Those are probably the best places to catch me professionally.

Holly: Well, thank you so much for joining us today. For our listeners, if you enjoyed this podcast please take a second and leave us a review and subscribe to enjoy future episodes.

Voiceover: The Texas Family Law Insiders podcast is sponsored by The Draper Law Firm. We help people navigate divorce and child custody cases and handle family law appellate matters. For more information, visit our website at www.draperfirm.com.