Family lawyers, like prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys, have always been more at risk than, say, corporate lawyers. But, all in all, our society has become so intensely polarized and guns are so easily available that the level of danger for lawyers has increased.

Unhappy people who once sent letters written in crayon on brown paper bags to local newspapers now go online and are quickly encouraged to become unhappier and angrier and more convinced that someone else out there is responsible for their troubles and must be made to pay. And sometimes, violence happens seemingly with no warning.