People want to get divorced but often do not even know where to start. Indeed, it is a financially, mentally, and emotionally exhausting process, and no one should have to do it all by themselves. Julie and Heidi are joined by Maureen McBrien, a partner at Brick, Jones, McBrien, and Hickey LLP, which is a family law firm in Needham, Massachusetts. She shares her experiences working with thousands of individuals navigating a divorce and how to ensure people take the steps they need for their unique situation. Maureen sheds light on why such a legal proceeding goes beyond financial settlements and how arbitration can drastically expedite the entire process.
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Unlocking The Mystery Of Getting Divorced With Maureen McBrien
We are very excited to have a conversation with Maureen McBrien.
Maureen, thank you so much for joining us. We can’t wait to hear about what you have to say about the mystery of how to get divorced.
Thank you for having me on this fantastic show. I look forward to chatting.
I can’t wait. As people need to know about you, who you are, what you do, and your expertise in helping people through this mystery, Maureen McBrien is a Partner at Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey, LLP, which is a family law firm in Needham, Massachusetts. Maureen focuses her practice on all aspects of family law. She prides herself on being a strong and reasonable advocate who can move a case forward in whatever fashion is appropriate, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.
She is an advocate of private arbitration of family law disputes for the efficiency, privacy, and convenience of all involved. We’ll want to talk more about that, what that means, and what it is. Maureen also enjoys writing and speaking engagements. She handles family law appeals. Maureen, in her spare time, is a co-author of the American Bar Association’s book entitled Assistive Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science and acts as a consultant on family law-related issues that arise from the use of assisted reproductive technology.
Maureen is the co-author of Thomson Reuters’ fourth edition of Massachusetts Practice on Family Law and Practice. She was the ADA’s Family Law Sections Publication Board Member for seven years. She is also a member of the Family Law Section Council and serves as Vice President of the section. She’s a graduate of Gettysburg College, where she was the captain of her soccer team, and is also a graduate of Suffolk Law School.
Demystifying The Complicated Process Of Divorce
Maureen, to no surprise, based on all the credentials that I read, has been nominated as a Super Lawyer each and every year since 2015 and was named Top Women in Law in 2020 by the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Thank you so much for joining us and helping us unlock the mystery of how to get divorced. Maybe we could start there. Sometimes, people know they want to get divorced, but they don’t know what it means. They don’t know what they want. How do you help them unlock that mystery?
Thank you. It’s such an interesting question. I’ve probably met with a thousand potential new clients at this point in my career. They all come in, and there is a common thread there. Some of them know they want to get divorced, and others are left behind and don’t want that, but they’re all wondering how. They’re like, “What’s next?”
The conversation proceeds, usually when I’m asked, “Do we need to get a mediator? Do I need to file? Can we work it out outside of the divorce? Do we both need to get lawyers? Can we use the same lawyer?” I find myself in the beginning answering lots of questions about the process. I always tell people, “Let me learn a little bit about your case and your situation, and then we can talk about the best path forward.” That is different for a lot of people.
For example, some people aren’t anxious to proceed at all. Maybe I say, “Why don’t you let your spouse hire someone, and then we’ll come along? Maybe we can chat about what that might look like and what you’ll have to do and when.” If you’re not anxious to move the process, maybe the strategy is, “Let’s hold off a little bit. Why don’t you try marriage counseling?”
Sometimes, I meet with people, and I tell them at the end of the conversation, “I’m not sure this marriage is over. Why don’t you go to therapy or try something different?” Maybe I won’t hear from them for a while, if at all again. Sometimes, the situation will be dire and urgent. Someone comes in and says, “I don’t have access to money. I don’t have access to my children.” In that case, I’m going to say, “We need to file right away and try to get in front of a judge.”
Usually, it’s somewhere in between those two. You’re coming up with a strategy. Do we try to work the entire thing outside of court and then file what we call the Massachusetts Joint Petition for Divorce? I understand it is called different things in different states. Meaning, an uncontested divorce. Does someone file, and someone’s the plaintiff, and the other person’s the defendant? A lot of people think, “That can send the wrong message to a spouse if I file and I’m the plaintiff, and he or she is the defendant.” They are concerned about the message that might convey, so we try to be thoughtful about, depending on the case, which avenue we take.
I also then get questions like, “Do we have to go to mediation?” That depends on the lawyer. Some lawyers are mediators, and some aren’t. With respect to how I approach it, usually, I say to them, “I’ll be your lawyer. Your spouse should get a lawyer. After we do all the disclosures and get all the information we need, we’ll try to work it out.”
“In the event we get stuck on something, such as the value of a business, the appropriate level of support, or the treatment of a particular asset in the case, maybe we can hire a retired judge or an attorney mediator to help us navigate that issue.” We explain to them that mediation is a non-binding process, the mediator is neutral and doesn’t advocate for either one of the parties. I always think it’s good to have an attorney at your side or at least in your corner as you go through mediation.
I try to convey the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. For example, I always tell people that mediation is great if it’s the right fit for the right situation. Sometimes, if I hear about abuse or power and control dynamics in a relationship, I might steer a client away from that and say, “I don’t think that mediation is appropriate for your situation.”
It can be with the right mediator. However, sometimes, if you’re going to do this all in the same room, maybe that’s not the right situation. Although, a lot of skilled mediators certainly can help clients who have high conflict situations by using different sorts of approaches, like separate rooms and things like that. It all depends, when it boils down to it, on what the right approach is, but I like to educate clients.
To take some of the mystery out of it, there’s not a lot of nexus between the breakdown of a relationship, the decision to get divorced, and then the process of divorce itself. It’s completely different. I always marvel at how the person I meet initially is so different from the person on the other end of it. A lot of that has to do with the process you go through to get there.
We all like to avoid the litigation vortex that some of these divorces end up in. Sometimes, it’s inevitable, but usually, with two good lawyers, you can try to steer a case towards its conclusion. It’s not always a straight line, but hopefully, you’re both going in the right direction at minimum. There are things you can do to help the case along.
When I’m talking to a client, I say, “What needs to be done here? What do we need? Are you aware of the finances? Is there transparency? If there is, then we can short-circuit. Maybe we don’t need to get three years of statements. Maybe we just need to get an appraisal of the house. Are there any unique assets that we need to value? Is there a pension?” That is so that I have a roadmap with a client of what needs to be done.
They also like to be given, I feel like, tasks. Some of them. Not all of them. Knowing who you’re dealing with, too, is helpful. If you have someone who says, “I don’t have a cell phone,” it’s going to be different than if you have someone who’s in tech for a living. A lot of that will inform my approach to helping them get moved to the next level in a divorce. I also talk about the financial statement, which I understand is called something different in every state as well.
In Massachusetts, that’s a document on pink paper, because it’s impounded, disclosing all of your income, assets, liabilities, and expenses on a weekly basis. People have a hard time wrapping their heads around the weekly part, how to compute weekly, and how to do it. At my office, we have an Excel spreadsheet that’s PDF fillable.
You can do annual, monthly, weekly, daily, or however you want to fill in the expense. We’ll figure it out and make sure it gets on the financial statement on a weekly basis so we can capture what’s coming in, what’s going out, and what the assets are. That whole financial statement, I find, is a big part of the process initially in a divorce.
It’s a hard thing for people to wrap their heads around because it’s a bear of a document and a very telling one, especially once it’s complete and you realize what’s happening with the finances A lot of people don’t have great knowledge of that when they go into the divorce process, especially when they’re going to be dividing things in half, managing two households. All of these types of discussions are important when you’re trying to unlock the mystery of how to get divorced.
There were many things you said that were interesting. I was speaking with somebody who was asking me very specifically, “What happens next? Then what?” She wants a very specific roadmap. It’s great when people ask those questions because you can have a discussion about the things you know and the things maybe you can’t know immediately. Many people don’t ask because they’re either intimidated by the process, anxious, overwhelmed, or intimidated by even asking those questions.
I love that you love educating people. It’s what so many people want, but they don’t necessarily ask. It’s unusual that lawyers volunteer. For a lot of people, it’s like the Wizard of Oz and what’s behind the screen. It’s this big mystery between the language and the process. People feel like they’re not entitled to know, almost. That was one piece that I thought was particularly interesting.
The other thing I want to visit back or come back to with you, perhaps, is when you talked about the difference between a joint petition and a complaint or plaintiff and defendant. I’d love to talk to you a little bit more about language and what I consider to be unfortunate language. Complaints, plaintiffs, and defendants fall into the bucket of unfortunate language when you’re trying to restructure a family, which is my preferred language.
Guiding Non-Financially Savvy People Through Divorce
Thanks, Heidi. This follows up with what you immediately spoke with Maureen about. It sounds like what you do, Maureen, is meet people where they’re at. If you’ve got someone who’s very tech savvy versus someone who’s tech-averse, or someone who maybe has a better sense of their finances versus someone that doesn’t. How do you suss that out? How do you figure that out when you’re meeting someone? What are some of the things that you look for, the clues, and the ways that you listen? What helps you get to that place where you can unlock that mystery for that individual?
I never presume anything when I meet someone. I try to ask open-ended questions when I first meet with them, which usually starts out by me saying, “I know very little about your situation.” Usually, it’s a brief conversation that my paralegals have with them. I say, “Tell me a little bit about your situation. Tell me a little bit about you.” It’s open-ended. That gives them leeway to start wherever they want to start.
It’s a loaded question, given where they are in their lives, but I can get a good sense even after hearing that one answer of where they are. They’ve given it a little thought. They’re coming to me, the lawyer, sometimes, and they bring financial information. I find a lot of people are surprisingly unaware of their finances, even if they have remarkably high-level education and jobs.
A lot of people are surprisingly unaware of their finances, even if they have remarkably high-level education and jobs. Share on XPeople are embarrassed about that, and I always tell them, “It’s okay. People have roles in marriages. That wasn’t your role. You’re saying your spouse did all that. That’s fine. It’s not to say you’re not capable of understanding these things and finding them out. You’re entitled to know everything that’s going on and everything you have. We’ll figure it out.” I try to put people at ease about being a little bit ashamed about not knowing things. I’m like, “It isn’t a big deal. We will figure it out.”
People seem very nervous about that because divorce is a lot about money and how we are going to divide up the pie. If they come in and say, “I don’t know what my spouse makes. I can’t remember this or that.” It’s so overwhelming. A lot of people have people who know everything down to the cent, and you have people who are broad thinkers or high-level thinkers. The profession of people gives me a tip on what I think they might be like.
The engineer versus the artist.
Not to stereotype.
The engineer who’s married to the artist, I always find those interesting.
I had one of those cases in mediation.
Divorce is very difficult because it’s like a Black-and-White thinker. There’s always an answer. They’re like, “Here’s the question. Tell me the answer.” I’m like, “It’s not Black and White divorce. There are tons of discretion.” They’re like, “What do you mean? What’s support going to be? Why? Where’s the calculation? How come it’s not going to be this when the calculator says that?” It is very hard for some people to process the mystery of divorce. You can’t fit anything into a box when you’re talking about families.
It gets layered with the emotional component if you’re a Black and White thinker or somebody who likes a spreadsheet or wants the answer. You layer on it not only the ambiguity of the discretion of the law in the court, but also how you might, as an individual, think something should be. You feel like you should be compensated or that something was unfair.
You were somehow betrayed or challenged in a way that makes you deserving of more than the numbers might show, or that you shouldn’t pay on account of someone else’s behavior. There are things that the court and the law might not at all agree with the person on. Yet, there’s a resistance not to understand intellectually, but to accept emotionally that this could be an outcome, even though it doesn’t feel right to you or fair to you. It leaves you feeling less than whole.
That reminds me of the type of client who says, “Let’s go to court. I’m not agreeing to this.” My response to that is, “We can do that, but then you’re ceding total control to a total stranger over what happens here. The vast majority of the time, you’re better off being the architect of your own settlement and what happens to you in this situation.” When people hear that, it usually resonates. For some people, it doesn’t and won’t. That’s why we have judges. The judges know when that case comes before them. Court is an option. We haven’t talked about that. That’s a whole other mystery.
Arbitration and the difference between them, which will be a fruitful discussion.
How Arbitration Can Drastically Expedite Divorce
I always tell people what to expect. You don’t have to explain much after you’ve been there a few times with the same client to the client or the judge. I always tell them, “There are two council tables. We’re going to go up on the one on the right. They’re going to bp into one on the left. You’re going to have to state your name.
There are two lawyers. You normally don’t have to talk unless there’s a question of fact that’s posed directly to you. If that question is posed to you, answer it. Don’t keep talking. There’s some sort of decorum in the court. Please dress appropriately. Please behave appropriately, don’t interact with your spouse in a negative manner.” I go back to the basics because you don’t know what they don’t know.
Arbitration is something I’m keenly interested in as a means to an end in divorces. We don’t have a family law arbitration statute in Massachusetts. There is an arbitration statute that has been enacted in various states. It’s about nine at this point. The Family Law Arbitration Act was pending in Massachusetts and then died. We’re going to try to introduce it again. It’s been difficult to get traction on it, but it would provide a forum for couples to get divorced in private settings.
You use a private judge instead of a judge in the courthouse, and you outsource what’s happening in the courtroom to a private setting. You would pay the private judge, but all the same rules or less strict rules would apply, depending on what everyone agreed to. It’s quicker and more efficient because you can move the process more quickly than you could through the court system.
We can do it by agreement here in Massachusetts already, but since there’s no statute governing the process. I find that people get caught up in what rules govern the process, such that it falls apart, or you have one party not motivated to get the case done and would rather be stuck in the court system than agree to arbitration.
Where you can arbitrate other issues legally, like in the employment context or the construction context, why not have it extended? One of the biggest drawbacks to the whole family law system is the delay. There’s nothing worse for a family that’s trying to restructure than delay, because with time comes changed circumstances.
With the delay, you’re solving a situation that used to exist and maybe doesn’t exist anymore, and then you end up with a modification. It’s like this chasing your tail type thing. What people mostly want is a resolution, even if it’s not perfect. I always tell people, “If you walk away from a divorce feeling not great, but that you can live with it, then it’s probably fair.”
“If you walk away thinking you won, something is wrong because a win in a divorce is half your assets and your kids half the time.” If you think you’ve won in a divorce, it’s going to come back to haunt you because someone’s going to come back and say, “I didn’t understand or I need to modify this, and here’s why.” Arbitration, which is a binding process where the evidence would be heard in a private setting in a confidential manner, and there would be a resolution via a binding decision issued by the arbitrator, is an attractive alternative for some cases.
You could have a public figure who wants a private setting. You could have an interesting legal issue, like a massive estate, a complex estate, or something that can’t be heard in an efficient manner. Especially if a lot of trial days are required in a court setting. Sometimes, you get through a few days of trial, and then you get another trial date in seven months. No one remembers what happened. I’m an advocate for that process. It’s not for everyone. It is binding. Sometimes, you waive your rights to appeal.
Two questions about that, talking about what it means to be binding versus not binding. The second thing is, I know that you have founded the Needham Center for Arbitration. I’d like to hear a little bit more about that. Given that there’s not a specific family law arbitration statute in Massachusetts, how do people come to you and come to arbitration?
I became certified as a Family Law Arbitrator by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2022. People have always told me I make a great judge. I do want to continue my practice here, so I figured I’d put on the private judging hat. We do have the Needham Center for Arbitration. There’s a courtroom in my office here in Needham. It mimics the court you would see in public. It lends a level of decorum to the process that sitting around a conference room table doesn’t accomplish.
You can have the private judge sitting up at the bench. There are witness tables, counsel tables, and benches for the audience, as you would expect. We also have the technology. You can have witnesses testify remotely, cast exhibits remotely, and things like that, which is good for the environment. We have the Needham Center for Arbitration to rent that venue out. Not only for arbitration, but also for witness preparation for trials that go on in the court system. There’s been a big use for that.
Whenever I have an evidentiary hearing or a trial, I will do a dry run in the courtroom. To talk about the mystery of divorce, people don’t know what to expect when they’re testifying. Most of them have never testified. It’s not a conversation. That’s the first thing I say to them. I’m like, “It’s not a casual conversation. There’s a question before you, and then you answer. It’s a robotic way of interacting that many people aren’t familiar with. It’s hard to do well.
People do not know what to expect when testifying in a divorce proceeding. Most of them have never testified. Share on XWe also have the courtroom for rent for other reasons, which are totally unrelated, like having a party. It’s been a great venue. It created a lot of buzz. I hope to get more people in there for arbitrations. I hope we can have more divorces resolved that way. With respect to the binding nature of it, any decision you get is binding and not subject to further review. Except if there are mistakes in it that can be easily fixed.
In general, you have the same process you would in the court system, with exhibits, testimony, and such, if your divorce case goes to trial. Not many do, but it is a way to the finish line. You can also do single-issue arbitration, which I find helpful. If the one issue in the case is the value of a business, you have two competing business valuation experts. If the one issue in the case is support or the value of a home, you can do single-issue arbitration. That is something that more people should maybe consider because oftentimes, if you put that puzzle piece in place, the rest of the case can settle.
Why Divorce Also Involves Reproductive Technology
I’m conscious of our time, but I have a question for you. This may be another episode. It’s on the reproductive technology expertise that you have. How did you get into that? I remember long ago having a conversation with you about this, but it would be interesting for people to understand if you could talk a little bit more about that.
My mentor in law school is Charles Kindregan, who is a Professor at Suffolk University Law School. He passed away in 2016. He and I wrote an article on the disposition of cryopreserved embryos and divorce. We were one of the first law review articles on that subject in 2004. It was published in the Villanova Law Review.
At that time, people started talking about all the cryopreserved embryos and storage, especially in Massachusetts, where we have lots of fertility clinics. It came up primarily in California and Massachusetts initially, with the number of clinics here. A lot of people who have participated in assisted reproduction are going through divorce. It’s a question that practitioners should ask their clients. They’re not going to volunteer that information. You have to ask them.
The way I ask them, because it’s a sensitive private area of inquiry, is I say, “Have you ever participated in assisted reproduction?” You can find out whether they’ve donated their gametes, whether they’ve created embryos, and what they’ve done and why. Are there clinic contracts? You need to take a look at those because sometimes, the clients will have answered questions about what happens in the event of a divorce to their embryos or gametes.
The Uniform Parentage Act is widely adopted in many states and does address how donors are treated. Whether a child of assisted reproduction is a child of the marriage, and those types of questions that we used to have litigation over. Thankfully, there have been a lot of advances statutorily that render moot a lot of the cases I was involved in in the past, with people arguing that they weren’t parents because they were not biologically related to the child, because they used donor gametes.
All those types of questions have been answered in the manner you would think they are, and that is that the intended parents are the parents of the child. Meaning, the two people who put the process in motion, but for their actions, the embryos wouldn’t exist, those two people are going to be on the hook, so to speak, for parental rights and child support.
That was a great overview. Thank you. To talk about areas of the law that people are mystified by, this is one where, sometimes, people sign contracts or engage in a process. Certainly, at the time they’re doing it, they’re not thinking of the consequences of marriage. It doesn’t survive, or it survives not as long as the embryos might.
Coming Out Of Divorce As Very Different People
Maureen, one of the things you said at the beginning of our conversation is that often, the people that you meet when they first come into your office are very different people at the end. Talk about that evolution, what that looks like, and what you’ve seen.
I can’t remember who told me this, but they said that criminal law attorneys see bad people at their best, and family law people see good people at their worst. A lot of people who come to see a divorce lawyer for the first time are destroyed emotionally. Some have grieved the loss of their marriage, and they’re completely fine, but a lot of them are not. I do see people fighting through that. Each time I meet them, they’ve made a little progress here or there.
For some people, divorce can be quite empowering. It’s something they’ve thought about for a long time, and then they realize, “Maybe I’m going to have access to money. I’m going to be able to stand on my own two feet.” They educate themselves about things. They get people in their corner, like a financial advisor. They start to accept that things are going to look different with respect to their time with their kids.
That can be a very shocking realization for people when you say to them, “You’re probably going to have your kids half the time.” They’re like, “I stay at home with them. I raised them. How can that be? My spouse has never stepped up like that. What do you mean?” It can be a lot of hard realities for people. On the support side, you’re going to have to pay X dollars in support. They’re like, “I can’t afford that. How am I going to do that?” You see a lot of acceptance, a lot of moving forward, and a lot of empowerments. I like helping people through difficult situations and seeing them transform or become stronger.
To see someone who’s vulnerable, and most people feel pretty vulnerable at the beginning of a divorce, become empowered. It’s an incredibly gratifying privilege to participate in someone’s life at that juncture. You probably are artful at helping someone get there. That’s something where people show you their whole selves at that point. Since you educate, don’t judge, and are asking questions in a non-threatening way about things that are difficult to share, it gives you the window into someone’s life in a way that is special.
Some Of Maureen’s Look-Alikes
A question for you, Maureen. I wonder if you ever get called out for being someone else.
I do. This happens to me a lot.
Tell me about that.
Do you have any guesses?
I do, but I will reserve my guess and let Heidi go first since you and I had this conversation offline before we started.
There are some people who have a warmth about them, and they invite comparisons to other people. There are some people who don’t. Part of it is the coloring of your hair or various things. Some of it’s almost an ineffable personality that comes across. It’s like, “Who is that person?” Someone who would be relatable when I look at Maureen and say, “I could see her being like her is Nancy Kerrigan. She’s someone I’d want to know. She’d be fun. She looks athletic. She looks like she’d be fun to hang out with.”
I get that one, but Judge Field, have you ever gotten Tonya Harding? I have to ask. We could be a good pair.
We could play off each other. I had guessed Ally Sheedy. That was what I saw. I will also say, as we’ve been talking, and this is also resonant a little bit with what your favorite movie is, Catherine O’Hara. I see that with the Irish features. Tell everyone what your favorite movie is.
It’s Home Alone. When she passed away, three people came up to me. It was right around the Home Alone Christmas season. They said to me that I look like her in Home Alone. What was her name in the movie? I can’t remember. I know she was the mom.
She was a great character in that movie. Why is that your favorite movie? It’s a lot of fun. Who do you imagine yourself being? Her, one of the kids, or one of the moms?
Her now, but maybe Kevin. I don’t know. I grew up in a big Irish Catholic family. I was never left behind, nor have I left one of my kids behind, thankfully. It’s a great movie. I’ve watched every Christmas with my own kids.
That’s so fun.
Discussion Wrap-up And Closing Words
You’re resonant with her and of the care, attention, and love that I am sure you pay to your own kids. What parent wouldn’t have necessarily lost one in that whole bunch of kids? What’s the last word, Maureen, for folks who want to unlock the mystery of the divorce process?
Ask questions and interview multiple lawyers. Don’t be afraid to talk to a couple of people. I always encourage people to do that because you should have a good relationship with your divorce lawyer. It’s not like a real estate transaction where you spend 45 minutes with your lawyer, if at all. You’re going to have a relationship with this person. It takes time to get divorced.
You should have all your questions answered. You should engage in a divorce process that feels right for you and your family. It’s not a one-size-fits-all, so make sure you align with someone who you think will best advocate for you and get you to the finish line in a reasonable way that’s not going to further damage everyone involved.
You should engage in a divorce process that feels right for you and your family. It is not a one-size-fits-all. Share on XThat is 100% true. It’s an indication of your confidence. Some people want someone to retain them pretty immediately. Go ask. Make sure that you build a relationship with someone that you want to have throughout this difficult process.
Maureen, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. If people want to find you, if they want to go through either an arbitration process, or they want to consider using you and your services to help educate them on how to navigate the mystery of divorce. How can they reach you? What’s the best way to reach you?
Our website is www.BrickJones.com. There’s a lot of good information on that website in addition to all of our contact information. Our law firm is in Needham, Massachusetts. My email address is MMcBrien@BrickJones.com. Those are probably the easiest ways to get in touch with me. Thank you so much, Judge Field and Heidi. This has been fun. I hope you have me back.
We will.
Without a doubt. Thank you again, Maureen. It was delightful to see you.
Thank you.
Take care.
Thank you.
Important Links
- Maureen McBrien on LinkedIn
- MMcBrien@BrickJones.com
- Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey LLP
- Needham Center for Arbitration
- Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey LLP on LinkedIn
- Assistive Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science
- Massachusetts Practice on Family Law and Practice
About Maureen McBrien
Maureen McBrien is a partner at Brick, Jones, McBrien & Hickey LLP, a family law firm in Needham, Massachusetts. She focuses her practice on all aspects of family law and prides herself on being a strong and reasonable advocate who can move a case forward in whatever fashion is appropriate depending on the facts and circumstances of the case.
She is an advocate of private arbitration of family law disputes for the efficiency, privacy, and convenience of all involved. Maureen enjoys writing and speaking engagements. She also handles family law-related appeals.
Maureen is the co-author of the American Bar Association’s (ABA’s) book entitled Assisted Reproductive Technology: A Lawyer’s Guide to Emerging Law and Science and acts as a consultant on family law-related issues that arise from the use of assisted reproductive technology.
She is the co-author of Thomson Reuters 4th Edition of Massachusetts Practice – Family Law and Practice. She was on the ABA’s Family Law Section’s publications board for seven years and is also a member of the Family Law Section Council, currently serving as Vice-Chair of the section.
She is a graduate of Gettysburg College, where she was a captain of the soccer team. She is also a graduate of Suffolk University Law School. She has been nominated as a Super Lawyer each and every year since 2015 and was named Top Women of Law in 2020 by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.