Baseball or Golf?

Prospective clients who come to collaborative family law often do not have an adequate understanding of what it is, and how it is different from litigation.  Because they have hired an attorney, they bring their stereotypes of what they think a lawyer does into...

A New Language For Mediation

Nearly thirty years ago the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation was born.  Almost immediately we began a new vocabulary.  Most notable was the substitution of Parenting Plan for the more familiar, Custody and Visitation.  The thinking was that the old phrase...

Parent Advisor Service

When families rearrange themselves due to parental separation, divorce or re-marriage, important decisions must be made with regard to children. The Parent Advisor Service helps parents structure their families and their parenting to the uniqueness of their new...

The Three Divorces

When people decide to get divorced they usually think about the legal divorce. This however is only one third of the process. The physical separation / divorce and the emotional separation/divorce remain just as significant if not more so. The Physical Divorce If...

A Synopsis of Contemporary Relationships

Contemporary men and women live in an extraordinary time. In North America during the last years of the twentieth century, a sweeping psycho-social-cultural change took place in America. A select group of white middle class people, who became known as the Baby Boomer...

Creative Writing: The Gift

I’m going to tell you this story how it was told to me. It comes from a woman I’ve known for a long time, but she told it to me just recently like this: As you know, I grew up in a rather small Midwestern town. It was so small that we all knew...

What Is A Healthy Marriage?

Commitment to the mutual welfare of each partner One of the reasons people marry is because they believe they will be better off as part of a team than they would be alone. The very essence of partnership (marriage) is a commitment to the welfare of BOTH parties...