While checking out Twitter over the holidays we came across one divorce attorney whose business moniker may not be exactly what you want in legal representation.
The image, shown below, reveals an attorney who is attempting to insert a chuckle into the conversation about the decision to file for divorce.
This an actual family law firm in Austin bc everybody wants a hilarious and irreverent divorce atty. pic.twitter.com/1P5jKVJMfR
— Gret¢hen (@wokkax3) January 4, 2014
Obviously, we can’t speak for everyone who’s gone through the process of filing for divorce papers, but the reality is that it’s hard to see the humor in making light of a failed marriage as you’re experiencing it.
You said, “Till death do us part,” and that’s what you intended at the time. Finding out that love may not be forever is difficult to come to grips with as you’re going through the raw parts of the experience, which is presumably the time that you might be needing an attorney.
If your goal is to find someone who “gets” what you’re going through, then a sign like this one might immediately be considered a red flag. That being said, the flippant approach to divorce isn’t the only reason why this attorney may want to change their name.
It’s actually in the name itself.
Just Who Is Joy Division?
We can’t speak to the identities of the attorney(s) behind the sign, but the actual Joy Division was a short-lived English Rock band of the 1970s.
While many music critics consider the band influential in spite of its short lifespan, it isn’t their post-breakup influence that makes the name distasteful. No, instead it’s what brought about the band’s end.
Vocalist Ian Curtis was the band’s talented frontman, and a significant part of its heart and soul. Faced with a dissolving marriage, the onset of depression, and a diagnosis of epilepsy, Curtis, early on the morning of May 18, 1980, hanged himself in the kitchen of the home he shared with his wife Deborah.
Deborah discovered the body when she returned to their home at midday.
Following Curtis’ suicide, the band released a posthumous single — “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
In Summary
Keeping your humor while proceeding with divorce forms isn’t a bad thing, but it should be a humor that works for you. One that you can cultivate and hone based on the level of sensitivity that you determine. It’s easy to see why some might find this particular firm distasteful for naming its business and tagline referencing the work of a man, who committed suicide because of depression partially brought on by his own impending divorce.
If your divorce was going to trial, would you want this type of attorney representing you?