Overview
To give you a quick overview of my practice, I focus on family law including divorce, custody, child support, parenting and support modifications, spousal support, parentage actions, collaborative divorce and divorce mediation.
I've been practicing family law for seventeen years, initially focusing on divorce litigation. Having directly witnessed the trauma associated with litigated divorces, I developed a strong interest in the collaborative divorce model, which has been implemented in many other states - and I decided to focus my efforts on bringing the collaborative divorce framework to Washington State. For Washington State residents, collaborative divorce is now a well-established viable alternative to litigated (adversarial) divorces.
For a good, objective view of collaborative divorce, please click the "Introductory Article" tab at the top.
As the founder of the collaborative divorce movement in Washington State, I have extensive experience working within the Collaborative model - which I believe to be a dramatically better framework for divorce, in terms of emotional and financial cost - as well as long-term satisfaction with the settlement provisions. The process scales very well for any estate size.
In cases that do not proceed through the collaborative process, there are a wide variety of non-litigation alternatives available from mediation and settlement conferences to mediation-arbitration or binding arbitration. Together we would discuss the various options to determine which non-litigation approach is best for your case. My clients are fully involved and informed from the start of the case until the final papers have been entered.
I believe that the practice of law involves a cooperative relationship between the lawyer and the client. I place a very high priority on ensuring that my clients are fully and timely informed of all issues relating to their case. I work hard to be very responsive and available to my clients.
Finally, I believe that strong and effective representation of my clients includes compassion, understanding and honesty. I involve my clients as much as possible so that each client is fully engaged in every step of the process.
