Litigation is a process for resolution of disputes by a court. A court acts as the decision-maker for parties who cannot do that for themselves. When parties do not voluntarily follow a court´s decision, the court also serves as the authority to enforce the decisions with its power.

Some cases settle with no involvement by a court other than approval of the parties´ final settlement documents. In these cases, no temporary orders are necessary.

Many of our clients need temporary orders to protect rights and establish responsibilities as the parties are changing from being a marital couple to a separated family. These orders can be entered by agreement or after a contested hearing. Temporary parenting plans, orders of child support, orders of spousal maintenance, and orders allowing the use of property and assigning responsibility for debt while a case is pending, are the most common types of orders. When necessary, the court will also grant temporary personal and financial restraining orders. Temporary orders last until the case is over. In family law, this is the time when most litigation occurs.

For those cases which the parties cannot ultimately settle, the court will resolve the dispute at trial. We never advise a client to go to trial unless we expect to prevail. Our approach to trial work is to be more prepared than our opponent, both with the facts and with the law. We work as a team with our clients to prepare for trial. This is time-consuming work for our clients and for us. However, if the case must be tried, we are committed to doing what it takes to obtain the best result for our client.