I am very thorough in my work, including identifying and locating hidden marital assets, and determining the “true income” of a business owner or cash recipient wage earner, both of whom have the ability to control and distort the income reported on their tax returns. In that sense, I leave no stone unturned.

I also place great emphasis on strategy and creativity. In one case, after showing the court that a business owner husband had transferred millions of dollars of marital assets out of his corporation, my firm received a court order to impound his business and personal computers and to copy the hard drives. This was the first electronic discovery decision of its kind rendered by a New York state trial court. This order forced the opposing party to settle the case immediately.

I counsel my clients to be civil to their spouse, and to consider joint counseling, because it is important to help them secure a divorce without lingering anger and animosity. Otherwise, the clients often wind up back in their lawyers’ offices for more post-divorce litigation.

In order to have a successful settlement, you have to consider both the legal issues as well as the moral and emotional issues.

Every now and then, I receive thank-you cards or gifts from my clients. (My favorite was two dozen chocolate-dipped strawberries, and my most unusual was a flat-screen computer monitor.) Their gratitude means so much to me. Clients are rarely happy coming to us because, after all, they’re getting divorced. Knowing that my clients are satisfied with the results I achieved for them and that they are moving on to a happier life fills me with a sense of pride.

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