What Happens in Vegas… Happens Because You Went to Vegas!
Several years ago, a client and I were sitting outside the courthouse in Statesville discussing strategy for a custody hearing. We had to overcome some negative facts, including an altercation he had...
View ArticleThe Only Rule is... There are NO Rules!
They say the States are the laboratories of American democracy. If that's true, then domestic violence court (a/k/a "50B court" or "DVO court" if you're in the know) is the laboratory of divorce law....
View ArticleTechno Groove
I am writing this post on my brand new bluetooth keyboard, paired with my brand new Ipad 2. I just got them paired, and my next trick will be unpairing my bluetooth earpiece from my Macbook so I can...
View ArticleRun Like Hell
The holidays are a bit of a dead period in terms of new clients. Sometimes an acute situation drives people to separate around the holidays, but people who have been thinking about leaving for a while...
View ArticleThe Paralysis of Perfection
I envisioned opening this post with a play on the title. Something clever that intimated my "perfection" as a litigator. Ultimately, I decided to play it straight lest you, my Constant Readers,...
View ArticlePerspective
For those who don't know, I coach the Mooresville High School Mock Trial Team. Yesterday we capped off our 6th season with a tough loss in the North Carolina State Finals after winning the...
View ArticleWin Win
I often tell clients when preparing for mediation that it's their best, only chance for a win-win outcome. A lot of clients don't like mediation because they get pushed to make voluntary...
View ArticleFree Throws and the Science of Self-Deception
Recently I had a client meeting that left me very frustrated. The situation was not atypical. My client was a well-educated, warm-natured lady - someone my wife would be friends with. But the...
View ArticleBaggage
Relocation cases are always heart-wrenching. In the 21st century moving across country, be it for love, work, or family is a routine occurrence. When you share custody of your children, though,...
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House Money
Family law is a mixture of rules and loose principals. Some issues are largely governed by rules applied mechanically in the vast majority of cases (see e.g. child support). Others are left within the...
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Divorce Lawyer's Thanksgiving Top 10
Here are 10 things I'm thankful for in my domestic practice:10. Every client who, in my early days, swept me summarily into his or her emotional state. I over-litigated those cases because I didn't...
View ArticleMobile Society
My father-in-law and his sister were for all intents and purposes kidnapped by their father when they were in grade school. In those days, there was an express maternal preference in the law of...
View ArticleDivorce? In THIS market?!?
First, an apology to my loyal readers for not posting in over two months! My wife and I are expecting our second child in just a few weeks. For reasons that make better bar stool conversation than...
View ArticleHit the Ground Stumbling
Not every client walks into my office in the immediate throws of a separation. A significant number of my new clients come armed with pre-existing consent orders, separation agreements, and sometimes...
View ArticleOde to Spouse!
Every so often a client will ask me if it bothers me being married and doing what I do for a living. I usually come up with some clever retort, like, "it usually comes in handy right up until my wife...
View ArticleRaise the Bar
Dear Devoted Trench-mates, This post will be less my typical rambling and more of an open letter with my take on an important new development in my practice. I assume many of you find your way here...
View ArticleDealer Add-ons
My wife and I recently bought a new SUV to help tote around the kids and their various accessories (i.e. my "in-laws"!). Overall, we had an excellent experience at the dealership, but I remember...
View ArticleTell Me This Isn't a Government Operation...
Each year, I spend the first weekend in May at a seminar hosted by the North Carolina Bar Association's Family Law Section. This year, the event was held in downtown Charleston, one of my very favorite...
View ArticleThe contract just won't die...
First, let me apologize for the extended delay in between posts, which come to think of it has become an all too frequent refrain on this blog. So many of you wonderful folks keep hiring me that it's...
View ArticleTis the (Bonus) Season
Well, the Holiday season is upon us, and I'm pleased to report everyone is recovering nicely from their tryptophan overdose at my house! After years of haggling, my wife and I have finally settled on a...
View ArticleWhat Lawyers Can Learn From Watching $25,000 Pyramid
Every year I reserve one post to praise my students on the Mooresville HighSchool mock trial team for all their hard work and the grit competing in what I find the most rewarding high school...
View ArticleIt all makes for great drama.
Doctors and lawyers are linked in the public mind. All you have to do is scan the broadcast TV landscape to see connection. For 50 years, not a week went by without both a medical and a legal dramas...
View ArticleYour Long National Nightmare is Almost Over...
My Dear Devoted Readers,Happy New Year!!I'm sure many of you have been waiting with baited breath for a new post, and I apologize for the extended silence. Rest assured the wait is almost over. For...
View ArticleFourth Down
First, a little mea culpa.In my last post, I bragged about how close I was to getting my own, self hosted website online. That site will become the new home of this blog. The plan has not changed, but...
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