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Lawyer Believes In Community Service
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17 July 2011
Robert S. Meyring, Attorney, is on a mission to help his Atlanta neighbors resolve their personal, family and business issues through the legal services offered from his Vinings Village based office of Meyring Law Firm and through the Firm’s network of attorneys. The Firm offers 1) full service Trusts & Estates planning, probate practice and 2) a general law practice that can help clients with anything from traffic tickets, to civil/criminal litigation, divorces, contract drafting/reviews and business creation.
In 2008 Robert took over as director of the inactive nonprofit Vinings Business Association (VBA) and brought the group back to life through a reasonable membership fee, open invitation to neighboring business owners, networking luncheons and free monthly socials at various local host businesses. (Currently, Robert is legal counsel to the VBA and host of the annual Oktoberfest open house and business social on the third Tuesday of October every year. VBA information may be found at
www.viningsbusiness.com )
The Meyring Law Firm opened its doors four years ago and moved into a larger office space across from the first office just over a year ago. The office is next to the Orient Express Chinese restaurant on Paces Ferry Road. Robert is very excited by the fact that his Meyring Law Firm sign is the only attorney’s roadside sign anywhere on Paces Ferry Road. "It’s six feet away from Paces Ferry Road just on the east side of the railroad tracks, where Paces Ferry narrows to a single lane. While the train runs by it allows the waiting curious driver to dial up the phone number, web search the Law Firm, or check out the new mobile website on the driver’s handheld device."
Robert said, "Lawyers that litigate all the time seem to see life in terms of controversy." Of course, litigation is often essential and the Firm provides general litigation for its clients as needed. To meet the wide range of client litigation needs, Robert works with co-counsel, of counsel and in-house attorneys on litigation cases, depending on the area of practice speciality needed.
Ironically, for most of Robert’s life, he was against the idea of becoming a lawyer. He did not start out his post collegiate career aiming to become an attorney. Like a lot of people, a younger Robert didn’t think much of lawyers. But Robert’s opinion and understanding of attorneys has improved dramatically over the years. He now has a seasoned perspective and an empathetic understanding of client concerns; Robert enjoys good lawyer jokes, because they are somewhat based in truth, he says.
After working for the Food and Drug Administration as an investigator for four years, Robert wanted to do work that had a direct beneficial effect on the person he was helping. Inspecting large production and distribution facilities, though interesting, was not gratifying. He made a decision then that he was "only going to do work that he enjoyed." Undecided about a career at that time, he joined the Peace Corps, and served his assignment as a high school math and science teacher in the South Pacific country of Tonga. While there, as a secondary project, Robert immersed himself into the creation and leadership of an environmental nonprofit and worked to raise community standards through education and events. When he was able to obtain large sums of donor money for this group (including a grant from Coca-Cola), and organize a Tongan "national clean up the beach day," he realized that through his work, he could really make a difference. He realized that the nonprofit work he was doing was the exact type of work that some attorneys do for their clients and for causes. That was the moment that Robert decided on his legal career.
After the Peace Corps and return to the States, Robert moved to Atlanta and started a landscape company to earn some money before being accepted into law school. Robert was familiar with landscaping because as a teen Robert had mowed neighborhood lawns for pocket money. The Atlanta landscape company, formed in 1997 and sold in 2004, was a uniformed professional outfit that served northeast Atlanta residential neighborhoods with contract project and maintenance services throughout the year. By creating the company before law school at Emory, then operating it throughout his legal studies, Robert he learned a lot about running a community based business, making contracts, and providing excellent service and quality to clients.
In his studies, Robert found that the Trusts and Estates attorney seem to be very helpful practitioners; not often confrontational and usually intent on resolving issues before they become problems. Robert’s favorite area of lawyering focuses on his Estates practice which includes 1) trust & will planning, 2) incapacity, 3) probate, and 4) will contests. As an owner of several businesses, Robert also helps people start and grow their businesses. Robert promises that he and his Firm will be available to provide support long after the first representation. "We are different from most lawyers. Clients can call our Firm 5, 10 or 20 years after the representation and ask a 5 minute question…I’m not going to bill for that. If we did the work, we’ll stand by the work and support it in the future. If we did right by our client, they will be back and we will help them." Robert continues to maintain an open door policy that gives prospective clients a risk-free, free 10-minute phone consultation with an attorney.
Robert is on a mission to provide legal help to the greatest number of people in the best possible way. One of the best ways is through estate planning, which Robert says he could talk about all day. He says that 70% of the eligible population have life insurance, even though there is about a 2% chance of the life insurance policy paying a benefit to a survivor (because most insurance policies expire before the insured person). Robert asserts that if a person has life insurance and minor children with no estate plan in place, it may become problematic. An estate plan for insurance money to be managed for the child through a trust can help when a child beneficiary is not mature enough to handle a significant insurance/inheritance payout.
Though 100% of the living population will expire at some time, only 30% of the eligible population has a will in place. The amount of premium that will be paid for life insurance will almost always far exceed the fee paid to a lawyer for estate planning. Robert’s theory is that the majority of the people who obtain life insurance would also get estate planning - if only estate planning could be made as easy to obtain as life insurance. Robert is on a mission to increase the percentages of people who have estate plans, because in the end estate planning is really about planning for the life of your family and creating the legacy you will leave behind.
"Most people don’t really understand why estate planning is so important;" Robert explained. Whether we are talking about royalties from family intellectual property, mineral rights on land leased out to mining companies, disability benefits qualification, or many other situations, all these issues can be handled best with the skilled use of Trusts, while they can cost the consumer substantial amounts of money if mishandled. There are many estate planning pitfalls that most people don’t know about. The cost of a legal advisor is often far outweighed by the benefit to the family in the long run.
At the end of the day, Robert sleeps peacefully, knowing he is helping people and doing the best for his clients, his family, and his community.
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