Shapiro empowers clients during family crises

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Amy Shapiro often finds herself working with clients in their darkest hours — whether they’re going through a divorce or dealing with child support or custody concerns.

Although it’s not easy work, the attorney at Hawks Quindel, S.C. in Milwaukee said she finds great fulfillment helping clients through those tough times.

“I really try to be grounded all the time, which isn’t always easy. I’ve been known to go for a good walk down the hall after some phone conversations,” Shapiro said. “It’s not always easy to work on these cases, but it’s very satisfying to get clients through a dark time and get them started on a new future.”

A big part of Shapiro’s job is managing expectations and helping clients recognize their interests.

“There are obviously a lot of emotions at play, but I try to redirect their energies,” she said. “Knowledge is power, and I try to help my clients become more empowered and have realistic expectations.”

Working in family law means Shapiro has a busy, ever-changing calendar.

“My calendar never stays the same. I have to be very flexible; meetings or court meetings get changed,” she said. “I have to juggle a lot of different people and cases, but it’s something I really enjoy.”

Summer Murshid, a fellow attorney at Hawks Quindel, said Shapiro is committed to her clients and has a strong sense of purpose in her cases.

“She has some innate capability of somehow leading her clients, most of whom are in a variety of crises, through the darkest part of the storm and out into the light of their ‘new life,’” she said. “Combine that with her decades’ worth of knowledge on substantive aspects of family law and you have, without a doubt, one of the best family-law attorneys in Wisconsin.”

Although she now excels at family law, it wasn’t her first choice. She worked in civil legal services for more than 10 years, first in Georgia and then after she moved home to Milwaukee. She started doing some family law after the move and has concentrated on that area exclusively since 1991.

“I really feel in family law that I’m empowering people and helping them in their time of need,” Shapiro said. “I’m helping people at a difficult time — when they’re feeling betrayed.”