Help Your Client By Helping the Judge

Persuasion involves more than impassioned speeches and surly cross-examination. Often the best way to persuade a judge is to make it easy for the judge to rule in your client's favor. When planning strategy, think about what the judge will have to decide and what you can do to make the judge's job easier.

Michigan Family Court Judge Kathleen M. McCarthy provides one example of how a lawyer can help a judge in her article Advice From A Judge. Judge McCarthy recommends employing a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst to help your client analyze financial issues and to help you present those issues to the court.

I'm not sure that the CDFA designation is so crucial. What is really important is communicating financial information, and discussing financial issues, in a way that is helpful to the court. If your presentation is coherent and comprehensible, the court is more likely to rely upon the information you have presented. And if the court relies upon your presentation, it is more likely to accept your proposed resolution.

For more information about CDFAs, take a look at the Institute For Divorce Financial Analysts' website. You can find Certified Divorce Financial Analysts in your area by doing a search on IDFA's Referral Search Page.