I smell like strong black coffee and the cold residue of a six-hour settlement conference that went nowhere because the opposing party is a sociopath. I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. The client, a soft-spoken architect, was…
Read more
The High Cost of Vengeance in Matrimonial Litigation Your case is failing because you care more about being right than being solvent. I smell strong black coffee and the stench of wasted money. In my twenty five years of trial work, I have seen hundreds of clients set fire to their children’s college funds just…
Read more
The air in a high-stakes litigation suite often carries the sharp scent of ozone and mint. It is the smell of impending conflict and the cold precision of legal strategy. I have spent twenty-five years watching people try to play nice with opponents who have no intention of following the rules. I watched a client…
Read more
The mechanics of a failed settlement The mechanics of a failed settlement starts with a lack of objective valuation. Most parties walk into the room with a number based on spite rather than the cold calculus of the equitable distribution statute. If you do not know the depreciation schedule of the marital residence, you lose.…
Read more
The public exposure of a standard divorce trial A divorce lawyer typically advises that mediation provides a private, non-adversarial environment where spouses can get a divorce without public record disclosure. Unlike a divorce attorney fighting in open court, a mediator facilitates a settlement agreement that keeps financial and personal details away from the public eye…
Read more
I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. They felt the need to fill the air. They thought that by explaining their motives, they could win over the opposing counsel. That same compulsion to speak drives the most dangerous…
Read more
I recently spent 14 hours deconstructing a contract that was designed to be unreadable, only to find the one clause that changed everything. That experience taught me that in the legal world, silence and complexity are often used as shields for those who refuse to act. When you are trying to get a divorce, you…
Read more
I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a session because they ignored one simple rule about silence. We were sitting in a cramped office that smelled like strong black coffee and old paper. The mediator, a retired judge with a reputation for efficiency, kept checking his watch. He…
Read more
Why Collaborative Divorce Is Gaining Popularity Over Litigation The coffee is cold and the reality is colder. You think you want a fight. You think the courtroom is where justice lives. It does not. Justice is a ledger where the only people winning are the ones billing by the hour. I have seen the wreckage…
Read more
I watched a client lose their entire claim in the first ten minutes of a deposition because they ignored one simple rule about silence. We were sitting in a cramped conference room that smelled of ozone and mint. The opposing party, a textbook narcissist with a penchant for gaslighting, threw out a blatant lie about…
Read more
