"I want my clients to do more than just survive their divorce."
I have now been a lawyer practicing predominantly family law for 25 years.
Before I became a lawyer at age 36, I was a full-time homemaker and mother
of two sons. I did volunteer work in the community,
among the poor, devoted
my time to politics
and worked with domestic violence victims. When my sons
were teenagers, I went through a break-up of my marriage. When I was
divorced after 19 years of marriage, they did not have collaborative divorce.
I understand what the client feels emotionally during the
litigation.
Consequently, I have devoted my energies to bring interpersonal insight
and enlightenment to the table even while I was mostly
resolving divorces
within the litigation
system. My focus was always on helping my client
shield the children from the legal process, but the court system cannot
always be controlled, nor can adversaries or spouses. With great joy, I
trained for the first time in the California model of Collaborative Divorce (sm)
a
model of divorce created by two mental health professionals
who then invited lawyers to engage
in an interdisiplinary
approach to "no court" divorce.
Since 1999, I have received two other trainings in Collaborative law,
giving me additional insight into several approaches to collaborative divorce
as well as a better understanding
and knowledge of family dynamics, the legal
issues
in dissolving the unified, family, and financial planning.
I will understand that you come to the table profoundly disappointed
and often angry. I will create a safe space for open
and honest discussions
using both my
head and my heart. I will help you address the tough challenge
of ending a marriage. I will help you create new family relationships by
making your divorce a dynamic positive growth experience.
Active
listening is the key to being
a good collaborative lawyer. I will help
with my knowledge of the law, but also help
you establish
a new process of communication by learning new ways of working
together to end the marriage while building lost trust and new
communication.
I will help you learn new ways of working
together with your spouse to reduce the likelihood
that the same
problems will recur in the future.
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