 What is your business and where is it?
I am a founding member of Bleczinski, Kleiman & Klein, LLC located in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Our firm has been in existence since April of 2004. My partners and I exclusively practice Family Law in the five county area. What motivates you to make divorce healthier? In over 20 years of handling divorce cases, I have seen the good and the bad. Highly contentious, protracted divorces are destructive to families. No one “wins” in those situations. Conversely, a healthy divorce entails amicable and cooperative behavior. When spouses engage in such a manner, they likely will maintain a meaningful relationship post-divorce. This is vital if there are children. Assisting clients in achieving such outcomes is a priority in my practice. Why did you decide to Sponsor the Make Divorce Healthier Symposium? My firm and I are proud to help promote the meaningful dialogue between like-minded professionals that will occur at the Symposium. We are committed to furthering the notion of healthy divorce. What do you hope to take away from the Symposium? The credentials of those presenting at the Symposium are quite impressive. I look forward to learning ways to improve the services provided to clients from a multi-disciplinary perspective. I also look forward to interacting and developing relationships with other professionals who are also committed to helping families that are struggling through a very difficult time in their lives. What would you like to talk about that I did not ask you? I reside in Dresher, Pennsylvania with my wife and two teenage daughters. I’ve learned that to be an effective lawyer, achieving a professional and personal balance is very important. When not working, I enjoy coaching my daughters’ sports teams and outdoor activities, particularly hiking locally and in the Western U.S. I also enjoy volunteer work, serving on the Board of the Briar Bush Nature Center, and volunteering for Canine Partners for Life.
0 Comments
 Diana C. Schimmel is a partner of Petrelli Previtera Schimmel, LLC and chairs the firm’s adoption sub-practice group. In addition to guiding families through the adoption process, Diana focuses her practice on other areas of family law. She has represented couples and families in legal matters including divorce, custody, support, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, enforcement and modification of agreements, same sex rights, domestic violence, and paternity.
We're honored that Diana has decided to join us for the 2018 Make Divorce Healthier Symposium. On April 24, she'll be co-leading a roundtable discussion entitled, "A Modern Family: Problems and Solutions from the Estate and Family Law Perspective." In anticipation of the event, we asked Diana for an interview... What is your business and where is it? I am a founding member of Petrelli Previtera Schimmel, LLC. Petrelli Previtera Schimmel, LLC is a law firm dedicated exclusively to the practice of family law including: divorce, child custody, child support, alimony and spousal support, grandparent’s rights, adoptions, domestic violence, enforcement and modification of existing orders, same-sex family rights and prenuptial/postnuptial agreements. Our main office is located in Center City Philadelphia on beautiful Rittenhouse Square. We also have offices in West Chester, PA, Norristown, PA, Voorhees, NJ and Princeton, NJ. What motivates you to make divorce healthier? As a family law attorney for almost ten years now, I have seen the damage that a divorce can do to a family, particularly children. I also have a background as a child advocate attorney with the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Having children as clients provided me with a unique perspective that I have carried into my private practice work in the divorce arena. I have also seen how an interdisciplinary approach utilizing all ancillary fields, can help some of the inevitable impact divorce can have. Why did you decide to help organize Make Divorce Healthier Symposium? I have been a big fan of the work that Main Line Family Law Center has done and am always impressed by their passion to work in creative ways with families. When I first heard about the symposium it sounded exciting and novel; not like the typical CLE we usually attend. It was the first time I had heard of all the cross-disciplines coming together and I knew I had to be a part of that. At the inaugural symposium, I was asked to lead a round table and I knew that this year I had to do more. What do you hope to take away from Make Divorce Healthier Symposium? I hope to take away a deeper understanding of my fellow ancillary professionals’ perspectives and find some useful tools to integrate the best divorce approach. Just as we as lawyers want therapists, mediators, financial planners, etc. to understand our field and perspective, I want to learn the same from others. I want to breakdown stereotypes and learn how to best help our clients towards a common goal. I hope to share my own perspective from work in the divorce field and educate others on how I run my practice and what I have found that works for my clients. Anything else to know about your practice? I grew up in Wynnewood and have an intimate knowledge of the Greater Philadelphia Area and its people. Our firm is made up of three partners, three associates and some dedicated support staff. We focus exclusively on family law and are masters in our field on top of the cutting edge developments in a modern family evolutionary time. Click below to see who else is making divorce healthier and reserve your seat at the symposium!  As someone with little personal experience dealing with divorce, I didn’t think that I would be working alongside divorce professionals during the second semester of my college career at Villanova. My service as conference coordinator allows me to work remotely. While this flexibility is perfect for my busy academic calendar, with my job search also taking up a fair amount of time, I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to meet a lot of the individuals involved in the 2018 Make Divorce Healthier Committee. That being said, attending the recent Meetup breakfast session at Marokko in Ardmore was the perfect introduction to the larger group involved in the MDH Symposium. I had an opportunity to talk to executive committee member, Shellee Buchanan, during the Meetup. Shellee began her legal career as a divorce attorney but eventually moved to be a divorce coach. She affirmed the importance not only sustaining the connections you already have but also taking the initiative to continue building new ones when networking. As the session’s facilitator, Shellee framed the conversation by discussing how difficult divorce can be for all the actors involved. During this breakfast sessions alone, there were financial planners, divorce coaches and lawyers, mediators, and real estate professionals. And this is only a fraction of the types of professionals who will be attending the Symposium this coming April. One of the participants didn’t know about the symposium before this meeting, which goes to show that every little bit of advertising and planning can bring more people in the discussion of Making Divorce Healthier. One point that particularly interested me was how few prospective individuals facing divorce seem to know about mediation as an alternative. From what it seems, based off my little knowledge of divorce law, mediated and facilitated divorce seems to be the more financially sound and less intense course of action to take. And this is what the MDH Symposium seeks to bring to light. The focus of this session was looking at the MDH framework and further defining the guiding principles of a healthy divorce and best practices for divorce professionals. This framework serves as the exoskeleton of the Symposium. In every group discussion, there was talk about how to best integrate technology, how to better market mediation and collaborative law, and how to educate clients to better understand their options. The purpose of improving perceptions around divorce enables clients to be their own advocates. Yet, there is no simple and direct answer. What matters at the end of the day is that everybody’s rights are protected, and everybody’s dignity is respected. That’s why I love the law. That’s why I hope to go to law school in the future. This Symposium seems to be a step in the right direction because it helps inform how professionals can improve their practices.  Fares Sukkar is the Make Divorce Healthier Symposium conference coordinator and a a Senior at Villanova University majoring in Political Science with minors in Spanish, the Humanities, and Peace and Justice Studies.
Connect with Fares on LinkedIn.  By Sharon Pastore As co-founder and director of marketing and client experience for Main Line Family Law Center, I have the unique and wonderful job of nurturing potential clients toward peaceful resolution of their divorce through private mediation and divorce without court. I also have the pleasure of meeting with former clients to learn from them about their experience and how we can improve. Yet, when people ask me, how’s business?, this simple conversation starter causes me to look down and fumble for the appropriate response. Part of me wants to blurt, “Great! Phones are ringing, the website has over 20,000 visits per month, clients are signing on left and right, and the divorce business has never been better!” For some reason, that seems weird. My partner, an attorney-mediator, shares the same awkwardness. His knee-jerk response is, “Unfortunately, good. There’s no shortage of divorces out there, hehe...” With a hint of comforting sarcasm, it seems to put everyone at ease in that moment, and we quickly move on. But it also doesn’t tell the whole truth - that we love helping (ready and willing) people get divorced, and we’re good at it. As divorce professionals, we tend to downplay our enthusiasm for our work. We acknowledge that divorce is depressing, which also furthers the belief that all these divorces must mean that the world is going to hell in a handbasket and that we’re facilitating it all. I beg to differ. Our reviews and testimonials show that we are doing extremely important work, especially if a client is willing to post a public review on Facebook or Google. What I wasn't totally comfortable with was whether we were making a difference over the long haul. From reviewing 5+ years of numbers we knew that 96% of our clients successfully completed mediation, we had yet to learn what the longer-term impacts of our model might be. I was hankering for more serious data. Now that we finally had a post-divorce cohort, we hired a consultant to contact all clients who were divorced at least 1-2 years, with a basic goal to find out whether clients went on with their lives in a positive way and whether mediation played a role in that. First and foremost, all 26 clients interviewed expressed extreme gratitude upon hearing from us. Of those who participated, we found the overwhelming majority of our families report they are doing just fine, validating the efforts and sheer devotion our team puts into the craft of divorce mediation, and that we are indeed attracting the ideal client. While the sample size was not statistically significant, we can report a few strong indicators from our study: Study Highlights My Healthy DivorceⓇ Mediation Program, 1-2 Years Post-Divorce A Holistic, Comprehensive Divorce Model Developed by Main Line Family Law Center What's Working? Of 26 former clients interviewed by phone:
5 Major Takeaways: Main Line Family Law Center Client Follow-Up Study
Areas to Focus: While we found results that demonstrated long-term impact, we found room for improvement, which included: Helping Clients Recognize Divorce as an Empowering Process - While 16 of 26 said they felt empowered in the process, 8 were unsure as to whether they were empowered. As a result, our team is now focusing on ensuring clients make the connection between education and empowerment, especially when it pertains to financial literacy and the dependent spouse. Helping Clients Resolve Issues Post-Divorce - When issues arose, only 13 of 26 worked out the issue on their own. And so, while many used their negotiation skills to resolve differences, many who needed help did not think to contact our office. We now plan to offer a ‘service maintenance plan’ so we are top of mind if things get complicated, as well as follow up online courses on how to resolve issues that arise. In summary, if we want our clients to continue to grow through divorce and beyond, then we must continue to fine-tune our model so all motivated couples can benefit. (Besides, who likes having to give a refund!) That’s why we are a proud founder and partner of Make Divorce Healthier Symposium, a one-of-a-kind event that brings remarkable professionals, best practices, and real stories and results like ths together. It’s an all-around energy boost for this difficult, yet rewarding work. As my teammate always says, “...to be part of the solution, and not the problem.” (And what marketer wouldn't put in a shameless plug for an event they are involved with) Suffice to say that I’m no longer uneasy when I’m asked about how business is doing. I reply with unfettered confidence, “We are helping a lot of grateful people through one of the toughest times in their lives, and our families are emerging healthy on the other side.” Main Line Family Law Center is the platinum sponsor of the 2018 Make Divorce Healthier Symposium. Consider being an MDH sponsor or program advertiser. More info  About Sharon Sharon Pastore is passionate about the power of entrepreneurship to create social change. Prior to co-founding Main Line Family Law Center with her husband in 2011, she spent 17 years in the nonprofit and education world and is an AmeriCorps alum. Drawing upon her experience, Sharon uses mission-based marketing and program development to generate awareness, understanding and trust around divorce mediation as a healthier option for separation and divorce well before a client's first consultation. She founded the Make Divorce Healthier Forum in 2016. She lives in Havertown, PA with her husband and two daughters. Connect with Sharon on LinkedIn. 
Almost 35 years ago, the concept of no-fault divorce forever changed the landscape of the American family. Divorce rates skyrocketed, and with that, came the unprecedented explosion of litigation that's become all too familiar. The divorce "industry" was born. That's when things got ugly. For at least a generation, we have all witnessed or participated in the horror stories - vicious custody battles and families torn apart, a retirement and legacy completely gone. Today, adult children of divorce often shun marriage and relationships, afraid they are doomed to repeat the mistakes of their parents. It's just sad. Does divorce really have to continue to be so nasty? Was this really the vision of the no-fault divorce? We don't believe so. How do we break this pattern? We've begun to ask ourselves, "How can I be the change I wish to see?" "Who needs to be in my network to make change possible?" and "What does it take to have a rewarding practice?" So far, we know we can't continue to work in our silos when we know there is a better way. But how? It's starts with building bridges. A symposium brings together the brightest minds, the latest research, and the interdisciplinary setting needed to develop new set of beliefs and expectations. With enough practitioners in this mindset, the majority of divorce cases can be settled privately - without court intervention. It's time to create a culture of professionals who see themselves as the next generation of divorce - one that assumes kindness, cooperation and respect are possible. Are you ready to make divorce healthier?  I’m still reeling from our first Make Divorce Healthier Supposium (spelled correctly), a gathering of over 130 divorce professionals who, by showing up, committed to making divorce kinder, more mindful and more affordable.
 What is your business and where is it?
My Wayne, PA based firm, Entrust Financial LLC®, partners with clients to help them make good financial choices in all aspects of their lives so they may be confident of their financial security. In fact, my firm's mission inspired me to write Balancing Act: Wealth Management Straight Talk for Women. Through the lens of true life stories of many women and men, readers learn the steps they need to take to maintain personal financial success. And 100% of the proceeds from the book are funding a scholarship at Temple University for students with financial need. What is your business and where is it located?
I am a resilience coach. I help women who have been through divorce or are currently going through divorce rewrite themselves and their stories. I assist women in getting to a place of self re-discovery. I provide coaching for life after divorce ranging from emotional, spiritual and financial perspectives. Since many of my coaching sessions are virtual my business has no physical location. However, I do travel to coach face-to-face to speak to both individuals and groups. What motivates you to make Divorce Healthier? My driving motivation behind healthy divorce is children. My biggest hope for the children of divorced parents is that they will thrive through watching their parents divorce in a healthy way. What is your business and where is it?
I am one of the three members of Bleczinksi, Kleiman & Klein LLC, a family law firm in King of Prussia, PA, and our exclusive focus is family law—divorce, custody, support, etc. We’ve been working together for over twelve years and we practice primarily in four suburban counties—Montgomery, Chester, Bucks, and Delaware counties. What motivates you to make divorce healthier? I come from a family of psychologists and educators. My father, my sister and my mother-in-law are clinical psychologists, my wife is a school psychologist, and my mother has a doctorate in education. As a result of my upbringing, I have always had the natural tendency to want to help people and I’ve tried to practice law with that mindset. What is your business and where is it?
The OurFamilyWizard website is an online communication tool for divorced or separated parents. OFW’s headquarters is located in Minneapolis, MN, but the website is used by parents and family law professionals worldwide. My role is to educate judges, lawyers, and other professionals about OFW through presentations and panel discussions. How does the OurFamilyWizard website make divorce healthier? The OurFamilyWizard website and its mobile applications offer a variety of tools that help parents communicate and manage all parts of their parenting plan. |
contributorsThose who have a vision for shaping a better future of divorce. Archives
April 2018
Categories |
RSS Feed
