Saturday Night Blues

Here is a good article from The Globe Magazine. "Saturday Night Blues" is about a 50-something year old divorcee, who is adjusting to being "suddenly single." Here's an excert:

But when I found myself suddenly single in my 50s, Saturday night was a black hole that seemed to epitomize everything that was hard about my new life. It highlighted all that was missing on that special night of the weekend when I was now a floater at dinner parties. Activities that felt great during the day -- like going to the gym -- felt sad on a Saturday night. (Why is the sight of an empty locker room so depressing on date night?) I knew full well what my couple friends were up to most of their Saturday nights, and it wasn’t all that electrifying: They were home watching sports on TV, Skype-ing their kids, figuring out their latest iPhone apps. Still, that was little consolation, and I was certain they were having more fun than I was, because they were two, not one.

I’d sink by sundown on Saturday if I found myself with no plans. I’d overcompensate for several Saturday nights to come so that would never happen again -- frantically filling up my calendar with dinners and dates, even overbooking sometimes, so I wouldn’t have to spend a Saturday night alone. I’d go out with men who were all wrong for me, like the one who told me over coffee that he was born again or the one who boasted first thing over appetizers that he’d been married three times. It was Saturday night -- the black hole -- and I had to fill it. Continue reading »

Saturday Night Blues

Using a Collaborative Approach

There is an interesting discussion going on in LinkedIn's Collaborative Family Law Group about using a collaborative approach with clients. The question is, "How do we help clients decide if the Collaborative approach is the best for them?" The inquring lawyer works in England, where the approach has become a new alternative, and is writing a guide about it for clients.

How do we help clients decide if the Collaborative approach is the best for them?

Where I work in England the Collaborative approach is still relatively new. Most lawyers offer this as one option from a basket of dispute resolution processes. How do we help clients genuinely make the choice to work collaboratively? I am writing a guide for clients on this topic and would be interested to hear what people think clients really need to know (in practical terms) and understand before they decide if the Collaborative approach is the best for them. Continue reading » 

Don't forget to leave your own comments here »

Using a Collaborative Approach

Parental Alienation & Divorce Mediation Webcast

Here is a recent online radio discussion on parental alienation and divorce. Give it a listen and tell me what you think. Listen here »

Parental Alienation & Divorce Mediation Webcast

Divorce Myths

When talking about divorce, people might mention everything from horror stories, to the latest celebrity divorces, or even your own experiences. But reality is often very different, with each divorce having its own unique set of circumstances.

To read some of the facts and myths about divorce, check out Divorce Myths.

You can also post your comments about divorce myths in the LinkedIn's Collaborative Family Law Group

Divorce Myths

Facebook and Divorce

The LinkedIn Group for American Divorce Lawyers recently posted a Time magazine article about divorcees who are airing their dirty laundry on Facebook.

"Facebook and Divorce" describes Tammie, who is posting comments about her pending divorce on her "wall." Needless to say, the situation becomes embarrassing, as the former couple's colleagues, clients, friends and family are all able to see the comments.

Here's an excert from the article:

"Not long after Patrick told his wife Tammie he wanted a divorce, she posted an angry, hurt note on "the wall," or public-comments section, of his Facebook page. Embarrassed that his colleagues, clients, church friends and family could see evidence of his marital woes, he deleted it and blocked his wife from seeing his page.

A couple of days later, the IT worker in Florida--who asked that his last name not be used in this story — found alarmed messages from two Facebook friends in his inbox. Tammie had used a mutual friend's account to view Patrick's wall and e-mailed several women he had had exchanges with. He says her e-mails were borderline defamatory. She says they merely noted that he was married with children, a fact he had left off his Facebook profile. Either way: Ouch." Continue reading »

Facebook and Divorce

Online Service Helps Divorced Parents Keep Children's Schedules Straight

I recently read an article about Our Family Wizard, that was recommended in LinkedIn's American Divorce Group. The Indy Star's recent article describes a family going through divorce that uses the website to keep track of each parent's visitation days and schedules. Here's an excert from "Online Service Helps Divorced Parents Keep Children's Schedules Straight":

"Our Family Wizard.com allows parents to input their schedules, coordinate days and swap visitation days.

The Web site is court-ordered in 35 states, because the records on the site are time- and date- stamped, and communications are backed up by an electronic breadcrumb trail. Expenses can be logged, and there's even a journal on the site." Continue reading »

Online Service Helps Divorced Parents Keep Children's Schedules Straight

eNewsletter Alert Recap

(via) eNewsletter November 12, 2009

Have you missed recent eNewsletter Alerts? Check out our recap to see all of Amaral & Associates, P.C.'s past Alerts on:

• Divorce Mediation
• Mortgage Workouts
• Child Support Guidelines
• Homesteads
• Trusts for Children
• Compensation for Personal Injuries
• Auto Accidents
• Estate Planning With a "Living Trust"
• Doing Business as a "Limited Liability Company (LLC)"
• Wills
• Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies and Living Wills
• Buying/Selling a Home
• What You Should Know if You are Arrested

Read our past eNewsletter Alerts»

eNewsletter Alert Recap

Law Practice Management Tip of the Week

(via) Lawyer's e-Journal
Tip of the Week: Marketing Using Twitter

This week's tip from the Masachusetts Bar Association's Lawyer's e-Journal features some of the benefits of using Twitter:

Twitter was the "it" kid on the block when it got started and up until this year. Then statistics came out that pointed to the fact that most Twitter accounts registered were NOT being used on a regular basis and a majority of the "tweets" come from a minority of tweeters (Twitter lingo). Add to that, many legal business and marketing gurus didn't know exactly how Twitter could help market a law firm and if they did make a claim that it was beneficial, they didn't have hard numbers to prove it.

Then last month, Google and Bing revitalized Twitter as a marketing tool. In their usual epic battle of Microsoft vs. Google, Microsoft's new Bing search engine struck a deal with Twitter to start indexing their site. In the same day, Google made the same announcement that it will now start to index Twitter.

What does that all mean for legal marketing?

It means that individual tweets can now show up as searches in Google or Bing. So if you tweet something about your particular substantive area of law, there is a possibility that it will get picked up by Google and Bing and if relevant enough to a user's search terms, it will show in the search results.

If you haven't started using twitter yet, now is as good a time as any to start and I predict that many more firms will start to see direct results from their twittering over time. Tweet about your practice or the law. Tweet your blog posts. Retweet other interesting posts. Just start tweeting.

Don't forget to follow me, @Ed_Amaral!

Law Practice Management Tip of the Week

Massachusetts Alimony Reform

I recently started reading local attorney, Steven Ballard's Massachusetts Divorce & Family Law Blog and found an interesting post on alimony reform from about a month ago.

In "Alimony Reform and the Business of Divorce", Steven questions the alimony reform and gives a good description about the current controversy over the competing Massachusetts alimony bills, and a potential conflict of interest involving Senator Cynthia Creem.

It's a little long, but a worthwhile read for those interested.

Massachusetts Alimony Reform

Child Custody, Joint Custody & Shared Custody

I thought I would share this website I found through LinkedIn's American Divorce Group.

Child Custody, Joint Custody and Shared Custody has a lot of useful information and resources regarding custory related issues. The website also has some videos on preparing for your child custody case.

Don't forget to check out their blog on joint custody, shared custody and co-parenting!

Child Custody, Joint Custody & Shared Custody

Law Practice Management Tip of the Week

(via) Lawyer's e-Journal
Tip of the Week: Remotely Access the Superior Court’s electronic docket

I thought I'd pass along this week's tip from the Masachusetts Bar Association's Lawyer's e-Journal about accessing the Superior Court's docket online:

Get the most up-to-the-minute information about your state litigation cases by using the Superior Court's electronic docket. All lawyers in the commonwealth can sign up for free access to the Superior Court Docket. This Web site is invaluable for checking the docket for your cases, including filing deadlines, hearing dates, a list of docketed pleadings, and for doing research on parties, including other cases in which they may be involved. In some cases, you can also read the court order on motions.

Law Practice Management Tip of the Week