What is your opinion regarding clients educating themselves on legal issues?

I absolutely encourage it. The better informed my clients are, the better attorney I can be for them.

Clients that have had experiences with other attorneys appreciate the benefits of my service and have a clear understanding of the legal representation that I personally provide.

Are you willing to review documents prepared by clients?

I encourage my clients to prepare a file explaining their position and if they have come to any prior agreements with the other party. This enables me to prepare the necessary legal documents to implement their agreements.

Are you willing to coach clients who want to represent themselves?

It is often more cost effective for the client to have their attorney properly draft those agreements into the appropriate legal documents. In the matter of divorce and family law, anything outside of the most simple uncontested matter can result in some very complicated entanglements that can be very costly to repair, if indeed it remains possible.

Why did you decide to be a lawyer?

Higher education was a tremendously high value in my family and many of us, parents and siblings are medical practitioners. I wanted to work in a field that uses my mind but my path went in a different direction when I decided to study law. I have never regretted the decision to go into law, though it did take a while for me to find the areas of law about which I am truly passionate.

I have a great deal of corporate legal experience from my time in a large firm, focused on product liability defense litigation. This is exactly opposite the work that I do now which is far more personal and complex and allows me to have very different, and I feel better, relationships with my clients.

Collaborative law, the newest option for divorcing couples, allows me to deliver the highest level of help. Special training in CL, and my certification as a Mediator blend well with years of experience with domestic violence counseling to focus my ability to listen and negotiate in powerful and helpful ways, even under extreme circumstances to truly act as an attorney and counselor of the law.

What work experience and education helps you be a better lawyer?

Ten years of volunteering as a First Response Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Crisis Counselor for HAVEN have taught me how to listen and to go beyond this, to hear what people are saying. In this volunteer work, I provide the emergency crisis response to sexual assault victims and domestic violence victims by going to the emergency room or to HAVEN whenever the police or hospitals page. When I am on call this can occur at anytime, day or night.

Through this work I am reminded that each case is unique with its own set of facts and circumstances.

Why did you decide on your primary area of practice?

Because of some very personal experiences, I am acutely aware of how easily a parent can become disenfranchised through poor representation, the court system and its process.

What do you like best about your career?

Watching my clients actually get stronger in an otherwise very damaging experience.

Tell us about your law firm:

Becker Legal, P.C. was originally founded in 2002 when I decided to leave a very large, 120 attorney firm to start my own firm to better meet the needs of my clients. Dealing with other attorneys is not my idea of practicing law. Aiding in the success of my clients is what matters most.

What are your strengths and style?

I am a very strong listener and negotiator. I seek to implement creative solutions to problems so everyone feels as though they have achieved their goals.