Become A Collaborative Phoenix ©

By: Joanne S. Nadell, Esq.
July 26, 2011
I have endured and enjoyed an amazing transformation of my law practice over the last six years. Out of the symbolic ashes and rubble of my career as a divorce litigator, I have emerged as a Collaborative Phoenix. I invite and urge all professionals involved in the field of divorce to join me and the thousands of others who have made this incredible and rewarding journey.

My career as an attorney began in 1984 when I became licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey and went to work for a traditional law firm. As the youngest associate, and the only woman, I was corralled almost immediately into handling all the matrimonial cases that came in the door. In addition, I did a lot of appellate brief writing and actually argued several cases before the Appellate Division. I worked on answering Mt. Laurel interrogatories for local municipalities, worked on complex civil cases, assisted with land use applications for development and variances, handled the municipal prosecutor position for a large town, did my own municipal defense work, handled real estate closings, personal injury files and collection cases, etc. It was a varied, stimulating and challenging time for me as a growing professional. However, all that knowledge came at a price.

As years passed and I left the firm, my practice became more specialized and focused primarily on family matters, with a special emphasis on divorce. Over time, I watched as the world became more complicated, clients more agitated, and the courts more overwhelmed, less attorney-friendly and even less efficient. My clients, who were going through their own personal nightmares, were angry, stressed out, depressed, frightened and raging- all of which was compounded by the whims and protocol of a court system that was anonymous and all controlling.