There doesn't always have to be a winner and loser in legal disputes. As Camille Milner explains to LXBN TV and Texas Bar TV following her presentation at the 2013 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, utilizing interest-based negoation in collaborative law—where the parties focus on their interests instead of their positions—can lead to both parties getting what they want. … [Read more...]
Considerations for the “Gray Divorce”
My good friend and collaborative colleague, Tracy Stewart, CPA, recently wrote an article that was published in the Chicago Tribune about considerations in a “Gray Divorce.” More and more, those of us who handle divorce are seeing couples who are over the age of 50 seeking a divorce. They have distinct needs to their age bracket, including how to manage financially until their largest asset, often … [Read more...]
Rituals for Divorce
Unlike weddings, which are filled with extensive rituals, the ceremony of a divorce can be as simple as the client and his or her lawyer presenting a signed decree to the judge, with the entire proceeding lasting less than five minutes. Clients often have a rush of emotions at that time, including sadness and fear, even if they are the party who wants the divorce. And inevitably, clients are … [Read more...]
The Effect of Negative Emotions in Deal-Making
As family lawyers, we live our daily professional lives in a pool of client emotions, both our own clients’ emotions and their spouses’ emotions. We regularly turn to mental health professionals to help us and our clients manage those emotions. It is interesting to note, in addition to data from psychological resources, that the Harvard Program on Negotiation recognizes the negative effect that … [Read more...]
Rules of the Divorce Game
Honorée Corder is a Texan who author of a number of books, including her newest, “If Divorce is a Game, These are the Rules.” During her own divorce, she had the same experiences that most divorced or divorcing people experience, and from that experience she learned some techniques that will be helpful in some way to nearly every divorced or divorcing person out there. With insight and … [Read more...]
Counselors and Ministers Recommend Collaborative Law
...for Clients Who Need to Divorce The following blog is authored by one of our collaborative lawyer and mediator colleagues in New York, Katherine Eisold Miller. Even though she doesn’t live in Texas, she is a member of our Collaborative Law Institute of Texas. Unfortunately, too many potential clients and professionals are not familiar with collaborative law, partly because it is still a … [Read more...]
Bill Eddy’s Splitting America: How Politicians, Super PACs and the News Media Mirror High Conflict Divorce
Bill Eddy and Psychologist Don Saposnek’s recently published book a book called, Splitting America: How Politicians, Super PACs and the News Media Mirror High Conflict Divorce. When my sixteen year-old son was recently preparing a speech on the Constitution, I decided that I would order it for his reference (and of course, for mine). I have long thought that before every new session, everyone … [Read more...]
Conscious Financial Uncoupling: New Insights for Today’s Couples
On a recent CLI-TX Blog, Linda Solomon, a Dallas MHP, discussed Gwyneth Paltrow’s announcement on her website, www.goop.com, that she and her significant other were embarking on “conscious uncoupling,” a term created by Los Angeles therapist and author Katherine Woodward Thomas. Publicizing this term has resulted in a number of additional articles popping up, including one called “The New … [Read more...]
