Van Pelt & Van Pelt finds success in specialization

by Maria G. Hoover

SBJ Contributing Writer

Rick and Kay Van Pelt began their own law practice in 1984, but the couple, who met during law school and married in 1982, said they knew even then that they wanted to work for themselves.

Rick Van Pelt said his desire to have his own firm stemmed from the fact that his parents ran a hotel business while he was growing up.

"It was always my desire to have my own law practice, and after we met, we decided that's what we wanted to try to do, and almost everyone at law school told us we wouldn't be able to do it," he said.

Before going out on their own, though, the Van Pelts decided to get a year's worth of experience under their belts, Kay Van Pelt said. During that year, she clerked at the Missouri Court of Appeals, and Rick shared office space with other attorneys.

Rick Van Pelt said he talked to a lot of other attorneys and read up on the subject of practicing law independently.

"There was really no fear we had nothing, so there wasn't much to lose starting our own business," Van Pelt said.

He said because of the year he spent sharing office space with other attorneys, he already had a few clients when they decided to open their own firm.

The Van Pelts also had some money saved, so they didn't go into debt to get the business started. But in the beginning, both said, overhead was very low they worked out of a tiny office and used part-time help when they had to.

"We didn't let the overhead grow until the business grew, and we worked without any extras," Kay Van Pelt said.

Rick Van Pelt said the majority of the couple's practice is family law, which includes dissolutions of marriage and adoptions. They also handle juvenile court work and personal injury cases, and Kay handles appellate cases, as well.

The Van Pelts have two children, a 13-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. Rick said they try to keep work and family separate.

"It is necessary, and it's our goal to not really talk about work at home, unless we ask permission, and the kids sometimes remind us not to talk about it," he said.

Kay Van Pelt added that because they have a family, the choice to go into practice for themselves has been a good one, especially when the children were younger.

"It's been great for our family, because family is important to us. I was able to work my own schedule and arrange my cases, even work part-time sometimes," Van Pelt said. She added that although there are some law firms that have part-time attorneys, there aren't many.

They both agreed that their work affects how they look at their family.

"The fact that we practice family law puts a new perspective on our own family, being together, the relationships that we have at home and the fact that we have good ones," Kay Van Pelt said.

The Van Pelts' client base consists of several hundred clients, which they handle with the help of a legal assistant and a receptionist. Rick Van Pelt said one thing he's glad they did over the years was to follow the advice of colleagues.

"In our profession, people told me we needed to gravitate toward practicing in one particular area, trying to specialize," he said. "Fortunately, we gravitated toward family law, and I think today that's a real blessing we did, because we like the area we work in, and most of our new clients are referrals from old clients or other attorneys."

Van Pelt said when starting a new business, it's important to ask a lot of questions and get to know the type of business. He added that working independently can be enjoyable, but there's also responsibility involved.

"You are able to enjoy your successes, and when you make mistakes, you don't have to look around much to find out who's responsible. But you do have the ability to do some neat things," he said.

Both the Van Pelts agree that people going into business for themselves shouldn't think it will be easy, because it isn't. Rick Van Pelt said there is a high price to pay for independence: hard work.

Kay Van Pelt added, "Because you do answer to yourself, you can plan to be someplace, to take time off, you still know you have a certain time to get things done. We do create time for family and sometimes take a planned day off, but there's never been one day when we said 'I think I just won't go to work today.'"

Rick Van Pelt added that if people are willing to put the work into it, opening a business can be very rewarding.

"There's no substitute for hard work and dedication, and really believing in yourself and whatever your dream is," he said.