The end of a marriage or relationship can be tragic enough. Often, the process of divorcing only adds to the pain. You and your spouse or partner may come to see each other as adversaries and the divorce as a battleground. You may experience feelings of confusion, anger, loss and conflict. Under such circumstances, you.. read more →

Below is a listing of the 2011 Officers and Directors of the New Jersey Collaborative Law Group (NJCLG). I’m a member of the NJCLG Board of Directors this year. NJCLG is an educational, not-for-profit association of collaborative professionals established in 2008. I’m proud to be able to say I was one of the founders of.. read more →

What Is Collaborative Law? Collaborative law is an emerging dispute resolution technique in which each party retains a lawyer, but the lawyers pledge not to resort to the courts (or threaten to do so) to resolve issues. If the collaborative technique is unsuccessful, the lawyers must withdraw, and the parties start over through litigation. How.. read more →

When a couple decides to divorce, the spouses have important choices to make about how to proceed and the extent to which they will need help from others — including lawyers, mediators, and other professionals. Some couples choose to file for divorce in court and go on to lengthy, high-conflict divorce litigation. Others choose an.. read more →

The collaborative divorce process works best if, at the start of the process, all participants, including the divorcing couple and their lawyers, give each other permission to comment tactfully and constructively when the following suggestions for effective negotiations are not being applied: View your “ex” as a vital problem-solving colleague in collaborative negotiations. Be constructive… read more →

These guidelines are intended to establish a framework for collaborative family law negotiations undertaken by members of the New Jersey Collaborative Law Group. In order to provide some predictability to the collaborative negotiations, it is anticipated that these guidelines will be followed in most cases. These guidelines are not intended to be exhaustive. Before the.. read more →

Here’s a memorable sentence: “Nobody can relate to the raw, visceral experience of ending a marriage better than someone who has gone through it.” Amen to that. Based on that insight, the NY Times published an article this past Sunday entitled “Experienced in Love and Money” which summarized advice from financial experts about what they.. read more →

Recently, Fox News did a video segment and report on collaborative divorce which featured two members of the New Jersey Collaborative Law Group (NJCLG), divorce lawyer Amy Schimalla and financial planner Jody D’agostini, giving an overview of the collaborative divorce process. (I’m one of the founding members of the NJCLG.) Though brief, the video does.. read more →

In a recent article published in Inside Jersey magazine, collaborative divorce is described as “the newest method of alternative dispute resolution.” The author explained the collaborative divorce process as follows: Rather than two sides preparing for a knockdown, drag-out fight [in court], the  collaborative process is designed to allow spouses to negotiate with each other’s.. read more →

Increasingly, couples are seeking more constructive and less expensive alternatives to litigating their divorce, child custody and support issues in court. One alternative is collaborative divorce (also known as collaborative law, collaborative practice and collaborative family law). In a collaborative divorce, lawyers, mental health professionals and financial specialists work together with the divorcing couple to.. read more →

The Wall Street Journal published an article today discussing the increasing number of couples separating and divorcing as a result of financial hardship brought on by the recession. Yet, according to the Journal, the recession also is causing some unhappy couples to rethink their marital situation, since a costly divorce would only further deplete already-shrunken.. read more →

In a recent survey, 68% of Certified Divorce Financial Analysts (CDFA) contacted from across the country indicated that they have clients who could not afford to get divorced because of recession-related financial problems, with 63% of responding CDFA saying that the number has increased since the previous year. The professionals surveyed believe this will result.. read more →

A recent article on the MSNBC website entitled More Couples Seeking Kinder, Gentler Divorces reports on an interesting study which compares the costs involved in mediated, collaborative and litigated divorces. The study was prepared by the Boston Law Collaborative, a law firm in Boston where the staff includes a psychologist and a financial planner. It.. read more →

I. Goals 1. Our goal is to create settlement options for the benefit of ourselves and our families; and to minimize, if not eliminate, the negative economic, social and emotional consequences of divorce for ourselves and our families. 2. We will strive to be honest, cooperative and respectful as we work in this process to.. read more →

The business section of the Star-Ledger newspaper has a recurring feature entitled “Shop Talk” which usually contains a short news story highlighting a local business or community event. In the November 6th edition of the newspaper, Shop Talk featured a short article on the newly-formed Central Jersey Collaborative Law Group and briefly described the collaborative divorce.. read more →

You are invited to explore the legal, financial and psychological issues involved in divorce in comprehensive seminars led by an interdisciplinary team of attorneys, financial experts, child specialists and mental health professionals. There are separate seminars offered for men and women. In each seminar, team members will discuss the pros and cons of the various.. read more →

The word is really starting to get out about the collaborative divorce process! The October 17th edition of the Family Circle Magazine has a GREAT article on collaborative divorce entitled “The Friendly Divorce”. The article identifies four (4) benefits to couples who choose to divorce using the collaborative divorce process: Less Bitterness; Lower Expenses; Quicker Results; and, a Custom Solution… read more →

A part of my practice involves mediation and collaborative legal practice. Both mediation and collaborative practice are dispute resolution techniques used as a alternative to litigation to settle a dispute. I believe that settlement, which is a product of mutual agreement, is almost always better than litigation. Settlement involves the principal of self-determination. That is,.. read more →

New Jersey Lawyer (NJL), the official newspaper of the New Jersey Bar, recently took a look ahead to describe the practice of law in New Jersey in the future. The newspaper’s focus was on how the practice of law will change in the coming decade. To describe the future of the law in New Jersey,.. read more →

The June 6, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal included an interesting article entitled “Separate Peace.” It espoused the benefits of divorce mediation and collaborative divorce, particularly where children were involved. Although the article criticized the approach of “normalizing” divorce found in both mediation and collaborative divorce, which the author believed could lead couples.. read more →

Our office offers Collaborative Divorce services. In a Collaborative Divorce, each of the spouses and their attorneys sign an agreement committing themselves to resolving the issues in the divorce without going to court. The agreement also provides that if either spouse decides to litigate the case in court, both of the attorneys will withdraw from.. read more →