Small Business Profile: Byrd & Byrd

Jacqueline and Toby Byrd have been married for over 40 years, an accomplishment in itself. But during more than a quarter of that time, they’ve also worked together.

They are the principals of , a local law firm with five lawyers specializing in elder care law, construction law and general law.

One of their keys to success, in marriage and in their practice of law, they said, is listening. They take the time to listen to each other, as well as carefully listening to their clients.

They also know how to play off of each others’ strengths. They are in tune with each other, sometimes even smoothly finishing each other’s sentences.

“We look at things from very different angles,” Jacqueline said. “He was a civil engineer; I was a speech and drama major.”

“It’s not that we don’t argue,” Toby said. “Sometimes we do. But we each have our own perspectives. We give the practice a synergy that wouldn’t be there otherwise.”

Toby is 64 and Jacqueline is 68. He became an attorney as a young man. Jacqueline was working as an administrator on Capitol Hill when she lost her job in the early 1990s because of a shift in political parties. She suddenly found herself at mid-life trying to decide what to do next.

She always had an interest in the law, and Toby said he nudged her into seeking a law degree. At about that same time, Jacqueline was helping an elderly friend obtain government benefits.

“The struggles she was going through were unbelievable,” said Jacqueline.

That prompted her to want to help seniors. She obtained her law degree, and eventually she and Toby began practicing law together. It was only natural, she said, that she move toward elder care law.

In 2001, she began writing a weekly column for the Bowie Blade-News newspaper called Senior Moments. The column, she said, offers seniors compassionate understanding and practical advice from an everyday and legal standpoint.

She said she applies that same point of view in practicing law.

“If I can explain to my readers what a healthcare power of attorney is, than I can explain it to my clients,” Jacqueline said.

Explaining often murky legal issues in understandable language is crucial to serving clients, Toby said.

“Everything changes so rapidly,” he said. “Funding isn’t what it once was. Government agencies draw the line in the sand in different places, they interpret the law differently. Our clients have to comprehend the complexities of long term care, Medicare and other issues. We explain what’s before them in easy-to-understand, day-to-day terms.”

Their success over the years has led them to hire three other attorneys, who have been trained to apply the same principles in dealing with clients, said Jacqueline.

“People often come to us in crisis,” she said. “We want to help them lift their burdens off their shoulders.”