FamilyDisputeSolutions
Practice Details
Mediation of all family disputes, including divorce, post-divorce (modifications) and marital mediation
Collaborative family law practice
Court-appointed guardian ad litem, Parent/visitation coordinator/visitation monitor
Family law settlement counselor
Custody, visitation and parenting plans
Case evaluation
Drafting of agreements
Prenuptial agreements
Mediation to stay married
Address
Reading, MA 01867
781-944-0156
Degrees and Experience
•Licensed to practice law in Massachusetts since 1979
•Admitted, District of Massachusetts, 1980
•Admitted, Supreme Court, 1984
•Mediation training with Divorce Mediation Training Associates, October 1989
•Parenting Coordination: Working with High Conflict Families Training with Robin M. Deutsch and Hon. Eileen M. Shaevel, May 2006
•Collaborative Law Training with Pauline Tesler, April 2000
•Conflict Resolution Training with Chip Rose, May, 2003 and June, 2005
•Conflict Resolution Training with Jeffrey Kerr, June, 2005
•Collaborative Law Interdisciplinary Training with MCLC, May, 2004
•Advanced Collaborative Law Workshop with Sherri Goren Slovin and Victoria Smith, May 2006
•Instructor—Collaborative Law Trainings sponsored by Mass. Collaborative Law Council, 2002-2006
•Advanced Negotiation Skills: The Delicate Balance of Advocacy and Neutrality November 2008
•Advanced Negotiation Skills: Deepening Your Role as a
Collaborative Professional with Kenneth Cloke, J.D., June 2010
•Advanced Negotiation Skills: Breaking Impasse: Practical Techniques for Diagnosing Resistance and Moving Beyond Obstacles to Settlement with Nina Meierding February 2011
•Advanced Negotiation Skills: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Advance Collaborative Negotiation Skills to Start and Keep the Process Going with Forrest S. Mosten, March 2011
•Effective Advocacy in Collaborative Practice with Nancy Cameron and Julie Macfarlane, March 2012
•Facilitation Skills Training for Collaborative Professionals with Catherine Tornbom and Rita Pollak, March 2013
Voted one of Boston's Best Lawyers 2008-2016 in Collaborative Family Law and Mediation categories.
Selected as a New England Super Lawyer in 2011-2016 for Family Law. According to Super Lawyers, this distinction is only granted to the top 5% of practicing attorneys in the state of Massachusetts.
Professional Memberships
Massachusetts Bar Association
Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council: Founding Member; Past President
Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Inc.: Past President
International Academy of Collaborative Professionals: Past President
Merrimack Valley Mediators Group: Co-Founder
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and Massachusetts Chapter
Association for Conflict Resolution and NE-ACR
North Suburban Mediators Group
Regional Information
Middlesex/Essex/Merrimack Valley
Fee Information
Hourly rate; retainer required in non-mediation cases
Presentations
•Northern Middlesex Bar Association Legal Ease video presentations:
◦Alternative Dispute Resolution
◦Divorce law
◦Adoption
◦Child Custody In Divorce
◦Divorce Mediation
•Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education seminars:
◦November 1999, GALs in Guardianship and Domestic Relations Cases
◦July 2003, Paralegal Conference: ADR and Mediation
•International Academy of Collaborative Professionals:
◦October 2005, 6th Annual Networking and Educational Forum
The 'Art' of Four-Way Meetings Panel Workshop
◦October 2006 7th Annual Networking and Educational Forum Professions Colliding: Addressing the Tension Between Mediation and Collaborative Law Panel Workshop
◦October 2011, 12th Annual Networking and Educational Forum
Who "Leads" in the Collaborative Practice Team Meetings: When, Why & How? - Advanced Panel Workshop
•Boston Bar Association:
◦January 2006, How to Help Clients Avoid the 'Stranger in the Black Robe' Mediation and Collaborative Law Practice
•Association for Conflict Resolution, Family Section Mid-Year Conference 2006: Mediating Happily Ever After: Marital Mediation and the Fairy Tale Complex
•New England ACR 2007 Conference: Expanding the Toolbox: Collaborative Practice for Family and Civil Dispute Resolution
•Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation: MARITAL MEDIATION: How Couples Can Use Mediation to Change the Terms of Their Marriage
•American Bar Association, Section of Dispute Resolution, 2010 Spring Conference, April 7-10, 2010, Two Processes are Better than One: Combining Mediation and Collaborative Practice To Help Families Resolve Estate and Elder Conflicts
•Collaborative Practice California, CELEBRATION V, April 23-25, 2010, Two Processes are Better than One: Combining Mediation and Collaborative Practice To Help Families Resolve Estate and Elder Conflicts
•MCLC Tri-River Practice Group, September 2010: "Collaborative Practice: Helping Families Resolve Estate and Elder Conflicts"
•MassNAELA October 2010: Solutions That Maintain Relationships for all Parties and Interests in Elder Law and Probate Disputes through Collaborative Practice and Mediation
See my website for further details about my practice