In addition to offering divorce and family law representation in a collaborative process, or mediation services, Cynthia also represents clients through more traditional negotiation of family law disputes. This includes representing clients who are participating in mediation with an outside mediator, and who require an experienced attorney to give advice through the negotiation process and review the marital settlement agreement. Sometimes, the clients themselves may have an understanding of how they would like to resolve their separation and divorce, and they simply need to hire attorneys to finalize those terms by drafting a marital settlement agreement.
Some clients do not want to use mediation or collaborative law, but they do want to use an attorney to negotiate on their behalf. Cynthia is trained and committed to using interest-based negotiations, with a focus on the future well-being of the family, as opposed to using an approach that focuses on “war-like” tactics that destroy a family. Settling your differences by using this method is most successful when using a non-adversarial approach so as to not provoke the other party to respond aggressively. These negotiations can take place by having settlement meetings or exchanging negotiations through written means. It is most helpful and successful if the attorneys for both parties are trained in negotiations with a focus on reaching out-of-court settlements (such as mediation or collaborative process).
During negotiations, Cynthia assists the client in identifying what issues require resolution, understanding how the law impacts their particular situation, and explore options for resolving the issues in an equitable manner. By developing a settlement through negotiation, the parties themselves work together to ultimately choose the best settlement options for themselves and their children which is consistent with their interests and needs, and in their children’s best interest. When parties are able to work together through negotiation rather than using the court to decide their fate, the parties can create more detailed and specific results for their family than what is typically ordered by the court.