(by guest blogger) I observed something troubling in family court today. A mom and her attorney had just come out of a mediation. They were loudly discussing what had just happened with the mediator, ex-husband, and opposing counsel. (A note…
Painful truth – you overvalue the text messages, voicemails, secret recordings and videos you have taken of your significant other showing him or her high / drunk / dangling from a bridge or involved in illegal activity. Meaning – your…
I don’t know how attorneys get on with their clients in bankruptcy, criminal, or real estate closings, but in family court chances are you are not going to be lifelong besties with your attorney. And it’s not our fault. It’s…
Not everyone knows exactly what a deposition is: Instrument of torture used in the Middle Ages to see if someone was a witch? One of the forms you sign when you apply for a mortgage? Name of the trendiest new…
The most commonly-asked question by a brand new client visiting a family law office is some version of, “How long is my case going to take?”. Or, “When can I finally be free of my wife (or husband)?". Or, “What’s…
Should you find yourself in the RI Family Court you have unknowingly and unintentionally become part of quite a process. A process that I hope you are coming to understand a bit better with each pithy blog post. One part…
A fellow Family Law attorney told the following anecdote, and I think it encapsulates the Family Court experience (n.b. “standing” means the right to bring a case, i.e. either parent of a child has standing to file a custody case…
In Family Court, the yelling lawyer is the losing lawyer. Any legal argument that can rest upon its own reason need not be screamed. It can be given at any decibel and be perfectly effective. Judges are not juries. Judges…
Short answer: depends on the child! The marital covenant isn’t what it used to be. Infidelity (of all kinds) has become so commonplace that RI Family Court judges will often shrug it off. He cheated on her. She emptied the…
Bring an open mind. We know, we know. There are things you want. Things you are worried about. Things you cannot do without. Your world has been turned around and you are just learning to pivot to an entirely different…