Originally published here.
Eddie Stephens is a board certified attorney and has been practicing matrimonial law for 16 years. He has a successful legal blog “Stephens Squibs” and recently published “Stephens Squibs – 2014 Edition”.
What is a squib?
STEPHENS: It is the way I learn. If I write something longhand, it will stick in my head for ever. After practicing family law for a few years, and realizing I could tolerate the subject matter, I decided to become a master of the craft. To do that, I started writing a paragraph about the holding of every family law case, just so I would learn the material. At the end of the year I had pages of pages of material in my somewhat legible long hand. Instead of throwing it out, I gave it to my assistant to type up and I mailed copies out to 20 of my favorite attorneys. The next year we received requests for the materials and the mailing list grew. The third year we had a printing mishap where one of the pages did not print right and people actually called and asked for the corrected page. That’s when I knew that I was doing something that people were actually interested in so we branded it and called it “Squibs”. Fortunately the internet was becoming more prevalent and .PDF’s were beginning to replace mailings and all distribution costs such as copies and postage were eliminated overnight. So we gave the stuff away to whomever wanted it. The popularity kind of soared so we created a website. Squib…. What else would you call it?
Why the book?
STEPHENS: Well, after doing this for so many years, I literally had enough original material to fill a book. So, the decision on that was pretty easy. This is the 4th year we have published the full collection of squibs. All of the information is available for free at our website, www.StephensSquibs.info but some people like the feel of a book and the way the squibs are organized by topic. We didn’t do it for money. In fact, this year we are donating 100% of the proceeds to our favorite charity. We hope we can raise a few thousand dollars.
What’s the Charity?
STEPHENS: Big Dog Ranch Rescue. It’s the largest no-kill rescue in Palm Beach. The people who run it and volunteer are pretty incredible in their passion to place these dogs. We got out last rescue from them and have been great supporters ever since.
Do you have great expectations for the book?
STEPHENS: I haven’t really thought about that. This is a product of my learning process. I share it with people for free on a website. If people want to buy these materials in written form because it is helpful or they know it supports a charity they have that opportunity. The fact that someone wanted me to correct a misprinted page many years ago surprised me. The fact so many people would buy the book the day it came out was a nice surprise. But I have no expectations.
How can you get the book?
STEPHENS: You can get it from Amazon and Barnes & Noble in a few weeks or you can buy it now directly from the publisher where it is 20% off through January 31st. www.EddieStephens.com
Eddie Stephens is a partner in Ward Damon located in West Palm Beach,FL. Mr. Stephens was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1997 and is Board Certified in Family and Marital Law. After starting his career as an attorney for the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office, Stephens has developed a successful family law practice focused on highly disputed divorces. Through hundreds of hearings and dozens of trials, Stephens has honed his practice by making straightforward arguments that bring opposing sides closer together in order to find a successful resolution. Most importantly to Stephens,he litigates in a manner that minimizes the impact of divorce on children.
Stephens & Stevens - Marital & Family Law 
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