Services
We are a specialized family law firm. We concentrate our efforts on resolving family law disputes in four ways:
- Mediation: Mediation is a process by which an impartial neutral person - usually a family law attorney - visits with one spouse and his or her lawyer, then the other spouse and his or her lawyer. The process normally takes all day. With the back and forth, and a true desire to resolve the controversy, mediation is often successful. Janet Brumley and Paul Brumley are trained mediators; all our attorneys represent clients in mediation.
- Collaborative Law: This new dispute-resolution technique involves the spouses and their attorneys sitting down together during a number of brief (usually two-hour) sessions. The object is to identify what each spouse wants and needs post-divorce with emphasis on the spouses reaching agreements acceptable to both of them and avoiding a judge deciding their case. Janet Brumley has been a leader in the collaborative law movement and has published a book on the subject called "Divorce Without Disaster." Mr. Brumley and Ms. Hargrave have received collaborative law training.
- Trial: When settlement efforts fail, we are prepared to resolve disputes by trial, whether to the court or by jury. All our attorneys try divorce and child custody cases as necessary.
- Appeals: At times, a trial court will reach a decision that is incorrect under the law or constitutes an abuse of discretion. When such an event occurs, we will appeal a case. Mr. Verner supervises the firm's appellate practice.
