People will come to me and say, straight out, “I want blood!" and “I want to embarrass my ex! And afterwards, I'll just say, "thanks for stopping by." Because the fact is, I don't want those cases. Some people may be inspired by a feeling of revenge, but I don't take on clients with that kind of agenda.

I've handled hundreds of cases, and if there's a common theme to them it's this: The process puts everyone's dignity under assault, it plays games with your self-esteem. And in every case, it's about getting people through it all with their dignity intact.

It's hard to understate how fragile a person's emotional state is in these situations: We work to get them through it so - above all -- they don't feel they've been taken advantage of.

I was drawn to matrimonial law for a lot of reasons. For one thing, my father has been practicing for 25 years, and I had a good sense of it when I began. I think that's given me a certain advantage. There's a certain amount of gamesmanship and competitiveness in matrimonial law, and I admit I sometimes enjoy that competition. And I like the insights into human behavior we learn from every experience.

For me the case-screening process is extremely important. I don't make the mistake of taking anything that comes in the door. The right fit, the right chemistry, is extremely important in the client-attorney relationship. It's built on trust. If there's no trust, you're lost.

As most of us know, it takes years to build a reputation - and one day to lose it.

There's a sense of relief at the end of every case. A weight gets lifted off the client's shoulders. That's what we always make our goal: To get our clients through the process whole.