An observation: Generally, dealing with criminals is a hell of a lot safer than doing family law. Generally, someone charged with a crime is able to consider the situation rationally once they've had time to sober up and calm down. In a dispute over a man's relationship with his children, though, there's no end point, no solution that everyone can accept, and often no way to reach acceptance. I still remember, probably more than 10 years ago, when some guy gave his wife a 9mm divorce in the hallway of the King County (Seattle) Courthouse- by the next week most of the courthouses around here had metal detectors. Of course, most people deal with it rationally in the long run, but it's not "most people" that scare me- it's the ones with personality disorders.
In the 20 years or so I've practiced law, I've gotten pretty good at picking out the individuals with personality disorders or other issues that make them unstable (some of my worst problems have been with drug users who, now that they're clean, hug me every time they see me). My wife likes to bake cookies, and I make sure the security guys get some in their break room around Christmas. When I have a case coming up with someone I suspect of being a potential problem, I stop at the security desk and say, quietly, "This guy has a hearing in Courtroom 4 at 9:30 [for example] and I think he's unstable. Could you get someone up that way just in case?" One time I said the the security guy "I hope I didn't get you up here for nothing" after doing that and having nothing happen. He said "They aren't going to go nuts with us standing there watching. Better that you warn us in advance so we can prevent a situation."
It's not perfect- I used to work in one courthouse that had a set of little airport type lockers in the front hallway with a sign that said "If you're carrying a gun please check it here." Really, though, being aware in advance goes a long way. If there's a crisis I hope to be able to stand back and let the troops with the Tazers, vests, handcuffs, and guns deal with it. If I get into a fight in court (and I have a couple times) there's been some bad planning, not necessarily by me.