Lovely Law firm new to Bonners Ferry

BONNERS FERRY — Needing an attorney is not something the average citizen thinks about on a daily basis, but when the time arises, they are immediately on the lookout for the best person to defend them in their time of strife.

Then, there are those who plan ahead and find a good representative for their potential needs in advance, eliminating the stress of research on top of a law dispute.

Samuel Lovely, who has been practicing in the field of Law for about 15 years, has relocated to Boundary County within the past year and a half. He is currently practicing from The Plaza Downtown under his firm Samuel Lovely, Esq., as an Attorney at Law.

Previously from southern California, and with a new family, Lovely and his wife made the decision to move from California’s hustle and bustle to a more suitable place to raise their family.

“We have always been trying to get out of there,” said Lovely. “It’s a little bit of a fool’s paradise, overpriced and overcrowded, there was just no quality of life there for us.”

More than seven years ago, the Lovelys welcomed their daughter to the family, further accelerating the strive to move.

“Pretty much for me, it was like, if we don’t get out of here now, we are never going to,” said Lovely. “That was it for us, just wanting to give them a better environment.”

Some people have experienced what north Idahoans call the ‘long bridge’ moment, stemming from Sandpoint’s long bridge, where people cross it and feel at home, or close to home.

“I had that long bridge moment just south of Cocolalla, where I was like ‘this place exists and I’ve never heard about it? I’m moving here,’” said Lovely. “I chose North Idaho, and then Bonners Ferry kind of chose me.”

The couple continued to look for places to purchase in Idaho’s panhandle, eventually buying a piece of property.

“We thought, well, this is taking a long time,” said Lovely about bringing his homestead up to par with the family’s needs.

They then looked into their options and settled on a relatively inexpensive purchase of foreclosure property in Cocolalla.

After their property purchases, Lovely’s mother, step-father, and three half siblings moved up, making 10 people in one house quite the crowd. That, coupled with the neighborhood regulations, assisted in the decision to move forward with their initial goal — to have self-sustaining property complete with a garden and livestock.

“We had two problems: one being that there were too many people in the house, and two being there was no room to grow,” said Lovely.

The property boasted beautiful lakefront views, but lacked level ground for a garden and the self-sustaining lifestyle the family looked to move into.

“That is kind of what we came up here for, to have a garden, grow our own food, and have chickens,” said Lovely. “We plan on getting a milk cow next year, so at that location, there was no room for that.”

With their busy home life and the introduction of a new lifestyle, the Lovelys needed to continue to earn an income and support their projects.

In order for Lovely to practice in Idaho, he needed to complete another bar exam as it is not a license that is carried over from every state to state.

“It took me a minute to carve out two months to study for it, that whole process led me to pass the bar and get relicensed in Idaho,” said Lovely about finding the time in his busy schedule to study.

He practices on more of a general level of law — for example, he is involved in quite a bit of family law disputes, probate, state plan, and general civil litigation.

Lovely has a real estate broker’s license, and is licensed in both Idaho and California.

“Having that has brought people to be for real estate disputes, mostly title disputes,” said Lovely.

Family members sometimes need co-signers in order to make large purchases such as a car or a house, some ending in a conflict on who actually has possession. That is where Lovely brings forward his expertise and knowledge in order to find a solution to each case’s individual needs.

“Any time there are multiple people on a title there is a potential for disputes, either because of a divorce or something like that,” said Lovely. “Houses tend to be people’s main asset, so there is a lot of incentive there.”

Speaking about how he handles his clients and their cases, Lovely said, “I try to keep it small. I don’t like having an assistant being an intermediary.”

He went on to explain how having more staff allows the attorney to handle a larger case load, but takes away how the personal interaction assists.

“I like dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s,” said Lovely. “I learned from experience. One time a client called asking for a status report, and I needed to get an update. I hung up that phone and said ‘that will never happen again, I have to know what is going on.’”

Following that incident, Lovely has drastically cut down his work load from its previous state and focuses on each case individually and personally so that he can best help.

“I want to be sure that it gets done right,” said Lovely. “I keep it small so I can have that personal attention.”

Lovely noted how some attorneys are so busy that they can be difficult to reach, furthering his argument toward being available, reachable, and personable with his clients and their needs.

“They can text me, email me, or call me,” said Lovely. “If they don’t get a hold of me, I will personally make sure to reach out and call them back. If I’m going to do anything, I am going to try to do it well, that is my personality.”

- • •

Location: The Plaza Downtown, P.O. Box 497, 7177 Main St., Suite E, in Bonners Ferry

Email: samlovelylaw@gmail.com

Phone: 208-627-2642.