Legal Services Aligned with Your Core Values

Young girl sits on a couch with her mother and grandmother.

Collaborative, Creative Problem-Solving

Family change is a puzzle to be solved, not a war to be won. Most likely, emotions will run deep and the stakes will be high. That’s when collaboration is most important, not least, for your family’s well-being. We don’t slug it out; we don’t go to court; we do work hard to help you find security and peace.

Compassionate Guidance

Your family transition is uniquely yours. Every family is different, and there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to family conflict. So I start by listening: What is important to you? What helps you feel safe and confident? What is threatening? I begin by trying to understand you, your values, concerns, hopes and fears. Who are you now, and who are you becoming?

A Multi-Disciplinary Professional Team

Attorneys are good at some things, but not everything. So I work in teams of professionals with different skills and one purpose: to help you and your family get where you need to go. Mental health professionals, financial professionals, and collaborative attorneys work together to support you on your journey. By directing work to the professional best equipped to do it well and efficiently, we provide the best service while keeping costs down.

Creating a Team That Works For You

The surest path to a cost-effective divorce is a process that helps dampen and resolve conflict, that minimizes duplication of efforts, and that encourages cooperation and creativity. Collaborative Law is designed for these purposes, while traditional two-attorney divorce negotiations (and litigation!) too often veer in the opposite direction: towards inefficiency and conflict. Collaboration is for when it’s complicated — when professionals are needed to facilitate smooth, organized, productive meetings. Collaboration is for when you need to allocate your limited resources wisely.

Collaborative Attorneys

A Collaborative Attorney has conflict-resolution training and a commitment to guiding families through separation and divorce without resort to adversarial methods. Your attorney is your coach, your guide, your confidant, your strategist. She is the person you meet with 1:1 to have the deep conversations that will help you to feel confident and prepared to make good decisions.

Mental Health Professionals

Mental Health Professionals (MHPs) function as coaches on Collaborative Law teams. They bring their skills as family systems specialists to deepen understanding of complex emotions and challenging dynamics. They defuse conflict by facilitating effective communication, ensuring that both clients feel heard. For parents, they work with clients without attorneys present on the development of a two-home parenting plan.

Financial Professionals

Certified Divorce Financial Analysts (CDFAs) guide the gathering of relevant financial information, prepare property reports and settlement scenarios, assist clients in developing post-divorce budgets, and bring financial wisdom to the team discussions. Having a neutral financial professional on the team means that attorneys do not need to negotiate information sharing or prepare spreadsheets. This increases efficiency and lowers costs.

Child Specialists

Child-focused mental health professionals give voice to children’s needs. They meet with children, hear their hopes and concerns, and share insights informed by their professional expertise to guide parents in making the best possible two-home plan for their families. Parents can be assured that they are doing everything in their power to support children through family change, enabling them to thrive post-divorce.

When people are hurt, disillusioned, frightened or angry, peaceful and consensual dispute resolution doesn’t come easily. That’s why good professional guidance is so important, and that’s why I’m committed to doing what I do. Parents and children can thrive, even after hope for a long and happy marriage has been lost.

— Laura, Collaborative Divorce Client

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Schedule a Consultation

Initial conversations with me are usually about the different dispute resolution processes available to you. I try to help people identify the one that will work best for them. Please understand: if your spouse has already taken action in court, or if you have received divorce-related documents from your spouse’s lawyer, you will need to consult with another firm, as my practice is limited to Collaborative Law and mediation.