Services

As a family law attorney, I represent people with various challenges. Some face divorce. Some confront child custody or parenting time hurdles. All need an understanding and well-informed legal expert.

I listen carefully, then help you navigate the legal world as an advocate for getting the best possible outcome. I always strive to do so with an open mind and compassionate heart.

While the legal system is inherently adversarial, my approach to family law challenges is collaborative. I work to find common ground to reach solutions out of court. I take this approach because I believe it best serves my clients by reducing conflict and legal costs. If this doesn’t result in a settlement reasonable under all the circumstances, then I zealously represent my clients at trial.

Practice Areas

Divorce
Spousal Support
Child Custody
Parenting Time
Child Support
Paternity

Forms of Dispute Resolution

Family law consists of resolving issues of divorce, spousal support, child custody, parenting time, child support, and paternity. I strongly believe there is no one-size-fits-all approach to family law issues. There are many different approaches to resolution of these problems. These approaches include Mediation, Collaborative Law, Traditional Representation, Limited Scope Representation, Arbitration, and Parent Coordination. If you’re not sure which is the right option for you, please call to set up a personalized appointment, or you can schedule an appointment online where we can discuss your unique needs and goals.

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Mediation

In addition to my advocacy work as a family law attorney, I also work as a mediator for couples who choose to work together to resolve their disputes. In some cases, they don’t really know how the legal process of a divorce works but they know they want to try to reach amicable resolutions and minimize conflict. In other situations, couples have reached many agreements on their own but they need some help to resolve one or two prickly issues. As a mediator, I facilitate people reaching agreements that work for them.

If the parties have trouble reaching agreements, I can take an evaluative approach to dispute resolution, meaning that if asked, I will tell the parties what I think a judge might do in their case. This feedback is based on my substantial trial experience, which not all mediators have earned. I believe that by knowing what might happen if you pursue litigation rather than mediation, it often brings people toward the center to resolve their disputes without litigation.

A mediator cannot give either party legal advice. That means I cannot advise either person that they should accept a settlement offer in mediation. Mediation is a transparent process where the mediator works for both people and cannot give individualized advice to one person to the detriment of the other. For that reason, I always recommend that each person in mediation have the legal documents reviewed by their own independent counsel before signing any final documents.

Mediation can be a great way to resolve disputes. People who reach agreements in mediation tend to be happier with the process and happier with the outcome. What’s more, costs tend to be lower and most often the parties share in the cost of one mediator rather than each paying for their own separate attorneys.

Mediation, however, is not for everyone. If you don’t have a good understanding of your family’s finances, you don’t feel comfortable speaking up for yourself, or you’ve experienced domestic violence, then mediation probably isn’t the right choice for you. You may need to find a family law attorney to guide you through the entire legal process.

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Collaborative Law

Collaborative Law is a very specific model for dispute resolution. It consists of a team approach to resolving family law disputes in a fair and transparent way. Each person hires their own attorney to represent them. The parties jointly hire a divorce coach, who is a trained mental health professional. The parties, their attorneys, and the divorce coach meet together and discuss problems and propose solutions together. If needed, the parties may hire other experts to join the team. The team may include a financial expert to help them come up with a list of their assets and debts and help them decide how to divide items on the list. The team may also include a child expert who can take a child-centered approach to addressing issues related to the kids. All members of the team have taken specialized training in Collaborative Law. The parties enter a participation agreement, outlining the unique approach in Collaborative Law.

Collaborative Law unique is unique in that all members of the team agree that they are participating for the sole purpose of assisting the two people in reaching an agreement. The attorneys specifically agree that they will not represent their client in court except to the extent necessary to enter the divorce judgment, and the experts hired will not be called as witnesses at trial. This keeps the focus on getting issues resolved through the collaborative process rather than preparing for litigation.

In order to participate in the Collaborative Law process, both parties must agree to participate in the collaborative process. This means that both people need to agree to retain attorneys who are collaboratively trained. While the court orders many cases to mediation, the court will not order any case to participate in collaborative law. Some cases may not be appropriate for the collaborative process, including cases where domestic violence has been an issue, or cases where there are serious safety concerns for a party or a child such that court intervention may be necessary.

If you would like to learn more about Collaborative Law and its approach, you can find more information through the Collaborative Practice Institute of Michigan and Collaborative Divorce Professionals of West Michigan.

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Traditional Representation

In most family law matters, cases are resolved through the court’s process, which involves filing a complaint for divorce, serving the other side, the other side responds, there may be temporary orders put into place, your case may be ordered to mediation, the parties will exchange relevant documents and discuss settlement. If your case is remains unresolved, your case will be decided by a judge, typically 8-12 months after the complaint is filed. The state statutes set up a framework for family law matters, and each county has its own process for implementing specific processes to resolve your case. Many people are represented by attorneys, but some represent themselves in these matters.

In some situations, I have been successful in resolving cases in a very cost effective way by putting together a proposal and working with the opposing attorney (or the opposing party if unrepresented) to reach a final agreement, which is then drafted into a final judgment which spells out all of your agreements without the expense of needing to hire any other professionals such as a mediator.

In other cases, parties are unable to reach agreements and they need to have a judge make some decisions. This can be because one party won’t negotiate in good faith, there are safety issues that require court intervention, or there are novel legal issues that make it challenging to reach an agreement. However, most cases settle without the need for a trial in front of a judge.

Whether your case resolves quickly or at trial, I find that most people want the expertise that a skilled family law attorney provides. An attorney can provide you with information about what might happen at trial so you can decide whether you want to accept a settlement proposal or take the matter before a judge.

Even if you are resolving your case through mediation, having your own attorney fills a vital role. Your attorney can assist you in drafting the documents and filing them with the courts. Your attorney can help you prepare for mediation and assess whether the proposal you’ve discussed at mediation is a reasonable settlement in your situation.

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Limited Scope Representation

In some situations, someone with a family law case might not be able to hire the representation of an attorney throughout the entire process. Other times, a party simply prefers to represent himself or herself during the process. If you are representing yourself but find you want some legal help along the way, then limited scope representation might be for you. Having an attorney behind the scenes can guide you, helping you to decide what forms to fill out, what to ask the court to do for you, and how to represent yourself at court hearings. By doing some of the legwork yourself, you can save money by asking an attorney to help with only limited pieces of the process. If you want more help, an attorney can prepare documents for you, which you can then file yourself with the court. The court has recently enacted new rules that make it easier for attorneys represent clients in a more limited capacity than traditional full representation. This can be a great option if you are concerned about costs or feel that you can handle many tasks yourself but want a little help as you go.

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Arbitration

Although many people think of arbitration as a way to resolve complex business disputes, arbitration is available for family law cases as well. Arbitration is a less formal way of resolving disputes compared to having a hearing in court. An arbitrator essentially acts as a private judge, listening to evidence and making a written decision. If either party is unhappy with this decision, it may be appealed, similar to how a judge’s decision may be appealed. With arbitration, you have more flexibility with timelines, as you can have your hearing when you and your arbitrator are ready and not when the court assigns a trial date for you. Many people prefer to resolve disputes sitting around a conference table but can’t reach agreements even with a mediator and prefer to have someone make some decisions for them. With arbitration, you can have someone assist you if you are unable to reach agreements even with the help of attorneys. While you do have to pay for the arbitrator’s time, arbitration can be more cost effective than trial because of the time savings and efficiencies arbitration can provide.

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Parent Coordination

While it is our goal to have people work cooperatively together as co-parents, sometimes the conflict between the parents interferes with their ability to effectively co-parent. Disputes can arise in matters large and small, from how certain school breaks will be divided, to how parenting time exchanges need to be handled to minimize exposing to children to the conflict. If the parents agree in their judgment or a judge orders that a parent coordinator should be appointed, then a parent coordinator can try to assist the parents with these issues as they arise. A parent coordinator can give his or her opinion on how these disputes should be resolved, consistent with the parties’ judgment. The parent coordinator can make recommendations of changes that the parents might want to consider to resolve disputes, but the parent coordinator can’t order something that is contrary to the parties’ judgment. In most cases, the parties will agree in advance to follow the parent coordinator’s recommendation until a judge makes a different decision. Given that it can take time to have a judge make a decision, parent coordination is often a faster way of resolving disputes for families who have frequent conflict. While the parent coordinator is not a therapist, a parent coordinator can also discuss with the parties broader ways of reducing the conflict in ways that a judge cannot. A parent coordinator is not necessary in most cases, but for those parents with repeated conflict who want to find a way of reducing that conflict for the benefit of their kids, it can provide an avenue forward.

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Kelleigh Family Law, PLLC
99 Monroe Ave NW, Suite 200, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Tel: 616-600-4500 | Email:

Licensed to practice law in the State of Michigan and Oregon. Serving clients in Kent and Ottawa Counties in Michigan.