MB
Biography
A cum laude graduate of Temple
University and a graduate of Widener University School of Law. I
have been practicing law for over 25 years, serving my first six
years as an Assistant Public Defender in the Philadelphia
criminal courts. I am admitted to practice in all courts of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and was admitted to practice law in
Maryland in 1997; District of Columbia in 1998 and New Jersey in
2001.
After getting married I moved to the
state of Maryland. Due to certain life circumstances my marriage
ended and I returned home to the Philadelphia area. I left
Maryland a single mother of two very young children, and like
most separated parents, I was fearful of the prospects ahead of
me.
I am fully aware of the range of
emotions associated with a divorce. Denial, shock, spite, fear
and some desperation. These are normal emotions, but in time
they do go away. If you truly know that your marriage is over, I
am a firm believer in not staying in the marriage for the sake
of the children. Children are very observant; they see and hear
everything. You need to raise your children in a peaceful and
loving home. You deserve to be happy and your children cannot be
happy if you are not happy. Usually young children adjust to a
divorce much better than the adults do. It's important to
remember that two peaceful homes are better than one stressful
home.
Be assured, there is life after divorce.
However, until you can get to this level of understanding, you
need an experienced attorney who can relate to your individual
situation and guide you through this emotional and trying
process. Although understanding your situation, I will not let
you use it as an excuse or crutch. I will not permit my men
clients to withhold support monies as a means of revenge and I
will not let my female clients use the children as bargaining
chips. The goal is to get through this process as painlessly as
possible and to protect your long-term interests, your children
and your finances.
Being happily divorced myself, I
understand the need go to work every day since there is no
longer two paycheck contributing to the family finances. I
further understand that you cannot continuously take off from
work to go to an appointment and that there may be child care
issues for those stay at home parents during the weekday work
hours. To accommodate your schedule or situation, I will provide
evening and weekend appointments. As our professional
relationship progresses, personal meetings may not be necessary
and video conferencing (where you can remain in the convenience
of your own home or office) may be a viable alternative.