The Role of a Family Law Attorney in Settlement Negotiations

• Author: Gregg Herman
• Position: Gregg Herman, a certified mediator, is the managing partner of Loeb & Herman S.C. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has been active in numerous professional organizations, legislative endeavors, and activities designed to improve the practice of family law and to alleviate the effects of divorce on children.
• Pages: 71-77

71

The Role of a Family Law Attorney in

Settlement Negotiations

GREGG HERMAN*

The role of a family law attorney has changed greatly over the years. For

   

a prosecutor for over seven years. While there was not nearly as much

litigation as in my prior job, going to court was a routine occurrence. In

addition to multiple trials, temporary hearings over custody and support

were regular. The evidentiary skills that I had learned as a prosecutor came

in very useful. Since in litigation there is typically a losing party, appeals



an issue or waiting for a decision.Today, by contrast, it is far more common

to accompany a client to a mediation session than to a contested court

hearing because the number of contested trials has decreased sharply. As

a result, our appellate practice has correspondingly diminished. Although

most lawyers need litigation experience, the requisite skill set for a family

law attorney has expanded to include skills in negotiations.

To add some objectivity to the above observation, I lead a case law

update discussion for the Wisconsin chapter of the American Academy



average of seventeen new cases per year to discuss. For the last few years,

there were an average of eight new cases each year to discuss. As fewer

cases are litigated, fewer are appealed.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The bad side is that reported decisions



to do, the client is more likely to accept that result, like it or not, rather than

  

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has been active in numerous professional organizations, legislative

endeavors, and activities designed to improve the practice of family law and to alleviate the

effects of divorce on children.

Published in Family Law Quarterly, Volume 53, Numbers 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2019. © 2020 American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion

thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.