About

Why I Practice Family Law

All I knew was that at that moment, justice had to be done

It was a humid summer day in suburban New Jersey in 1973. I was ten years old. Corey Silverman (not his real name) had just stolen my little brother’s new bicycle. Right in front of our faces, and just because he could.

My brother, a skinny, shy kid, was a year younger than me, and terrified of Corey. He’d just gotten the bicycle – purple sparkles, with a banana seat – for his birthday. He was ashamed and started to cry.

I jumped on my bicycle and rode after Corey. Because I was a girl, he taunted me. “Oooooh, look at the big Sister!” As I pedaled faster after him, so did he. When he got to his house he dumped the bicycle on his lawn and scurried inside. I parked my own bicycle beside a tree, picked up the purple bicycle, and rode it home. Corey wouldn’t want my bicycle. It was a “girl’s bicycle,” after all.

My brother recently recounted the bicycle rescue story at a family gathering. It reminded me why I became a lawyer.

I hate bullies. And hypocrites. When something so blatantly wrong happens I want to jump on my bicycle and make it right. Quickly, and practically.

While I have not made it a practice of repossessing bicycles in my legal career, I’ve had quite a path. I paid my dues at a Big Law firm, doing complex, high stakes civil litigation; wrote bills and advised New Jersey state legislators. I worked pro bono for my son’s school district, and had declared unconstitutional a public school funding formula that would have hurt public schools. Representing litigants in freedom of religion and free speech cases are some of my other proudest moments.

My focus on family law and mediation started 17 years ago, the same time I started practicing yoga and meditation. It’s not a coincidence: just as I want to cultivate calm, focus and ease for myself, I want to bring the same to clients’ family lives. It’s my way of reducing suffering in the world.

I want to help people through the worst times in their lives

Basic Facts About Me

Education

  • Douglass College, Rutgers University BA English, BA History (1984)
    Rutgers University School of Law, Newark- J.D. (1992)
    Articles Editor, Computer and Technology Law Journal

Certifications

  • Category F Guardian ad litem Conciliator (Boston Bar Association –2013) Mediator
  • Divorce Mediator (since 2005)
  • Divorce Conciliator (Boston Bar Association, 2010)
  • Parent Coordinator (certification expected February 2023)

Professional Memberships

  • Massachusetts Collaborative Law Counsel
  • Massachusetts Council of Family Mediators
  • American Association of Family Conciliation Courts
  • Massachusetts Association of Guardians Ad Litem

In 2012, I joined Diane Esser because we shared the same practical and thorough approach to protecting and helping people in their worst times. From Diane, I learned that a multi-faceted approach to divorce is always needed.

I continue to update my toolbox of skills: Conciliator, mediator guardian ad litem, collaborative attorney–the training I’ve done is applied in every case I take.

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