My experience has been focused on divorce, support, custody, and other family law matters for most of my legal career since graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1985. After many years of family law litigation in court, I have come to realize that most individuals are better served by avoiding court with family law matters and resolving the matter themselves with the help of either experienced family law attorneys who are trained and believe in the collaborative law process or an attorney/mediator who has received formal mediation training in resolving family conflicts and who has extensive legal experience in the field of family law. Therefore, although I have been in court on family law matters in hundreds of cases in the past, most of my day to day work now is trying to resolve family law matters outside of court with collaborative practice, mediation, or traditional negotiation.