Blog

Dec. 16, 2015

There's a viral video that's been circulating recently, from a 6-year-old girl talking to her mom about the divorce they're all in the midst of experiencing. It's, first and foremost, a plea for her parents to be nice to one another, and to emerge from the negotiations as friends. She talks earnestly about trying to do her best to be nice, and in encouraging her parents to do the same, so that everyone can emerge as friends.

Nov. 8, 2014

I recently had the opportunity to join some of my family law colleagues from the Florida Collaborative Trainers (lawyer Rosemarie Roth, mental health professional Lana Stern, and financial professional Edward Sachs) for an extended interview on WLRN’s Tropical Currents. It was a fantastic opportunity to talk about Collaborative law with host Bonnie Berman and people who called in with their questions about divorce.

July 22, 2014

It wasn't so long ago we thought of the family attorney as someone who is supposed to win for his or her client. Though L.A. Law's Arnie Becker was a fictional character meant to be a little larger than life, he fit the public's expectations of a ?pit bull? divorce lawyer. To be a good family attorney in that mold, you have to go after the other side relentlessly, destroy them, and then take the spoils of war when you're done.

July 16, 2014

Some people think that once their divorce is being litigated, or is being mediated, that they're bound to that decision until the divorce becomes final. And people who think they're stuck with that first choice might come to regret it.

July 9, 2014

One of the most concerning things I've found in my years of practicing family law ? especially with my decision to move entirely away from litigation ? is that not all lawyers who claim to be collaborative lawyers are actually Collaborative lawyers.

April 10, 2014

A recent NPR story noted that Americans over 50 today are twice as likely to get divorced compared to their counterparts 20 years ago. There are a lot of reasons why divorce isn't as stigmatized as it used to be, more women are financially independent, and people are more active and living longer and regard 50 differently.

April 6, 2014

When a couple decides to get married, it's a joyous occasion, a declaration of love, and an occasion for friends and family to get excited. But it's also a time in which each person entering the marriage needs to think about his or her finances. Marriage is a legal arrangement involving a great number of financial issues, and ending the legal arrangement with a divorce has the potential for costly and contentious litigation regardless of how in love a couple is at the outset of their marriage.

April 1, 2014

I've noticed that there are a lot more prenuptial agreements than there were in the past, and I'm not alone in that. Last fall, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers noted that nearly 2/3 of family lawyers they surveyed reported an increase in the past three years. What's more, nearly half of the lawyers surveyed reported that more women were initiating requests for prenuptial agreements.

Feb. 27, 2014

In the debate over adopting new laws concerning alimony in Florida last year, part of the debate was about a provision that would set a new legal presumption for timesharing. If Gov. Scott had signed the bill into law last year, divorces in Florida would now operate with the legal presumption that children would spend equal time with each parent.

Feb. 24, 2014

I'd love to see, at some time in the not-too-distant future, a world in which divorces are primarily settled through Collaborative Law. While that might be challenging especially for lawyers who pride themselves on the ability to be bulldogs. I do think that it is possible for more divorces to bring Collaborative Law principles into the mix.