Minneapolis Divorce Attorney & Lawyer : Minnesota Family Law Firm : Brown Law Offices : St. Paul, Twin Cities MN

We are pleased to announce that the editorial board of the Minnesota State Bar Association's Legal News Digest and Practice Blawg has named our Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Blog one of the Top 25 Minnesota Blawgs for 2011.

What's a blawg? Well...a blog where the lo is the law.

They write:

Here’s another example of a well thought out and nicely designed site. Minnesota Divorce & Family Law Blog co-authors Jason Brown and Jill Anderson make the site easy to navigate at a quick glance. They do a tremendous job of tagging each post. They also include podcasts which give the site a personal touch. We encourage others to follow their lead...what they offer shows a wealth of experience and easily lands them on our Top 25 list.

Thanks to the Association, and congrats to our fellow award winners. Good stuff.

Our Divorce and Family Blog launched in April, 2008. Over 200,000 visitors since. We will continue to innovate as online technology and social media evolve. We hope you find this resource helpful and invite you to contact the firm if you have any questions.

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About half the cases we handle are more contested divorces. These are marital dissolution cases in which the litigants don’t expect to reach agreement early and, instead, need the intervention of the court system in order to reach a resolution.

These divorces typically involve four distinct segments.

The first segment of work in a contested case involves the case workup. This is where we put together the initial pleadings in the case and serve and file them. You will complete an initial questionnaire and provide documentation to us so that we can adequately move forward and understand exactly what relief is sought.

Following the service of the summons and petition, we will participate in what’s called an initial case management conference. This is a first meeting with the judge, on an informal basis, to talk about the issues that are in controversy. The court, at that point, might refer the matter for an early neutral evaluation. This is a process where the parties can meet with a court-appointed expert and try to settle the case before becoming too entrenched.

If matters don’t resolve at the early neutral stage, then we move into the next phase - called discovery. This is a process where we’re going to gather information from your spouse. We may do so formally, or informally.

In addition, we may elect to schedule a motion for temporary relief. This is a hearing in which the court will make a determination, on a temporary basis, of who is going to reside in the homestead, who is going to have temporary custody of the children, and what sort of temporary alimony, or child support awards, are appropriate. Quite often cases will settle following the entry of a temporary order, because the parties have a preview into how the judge views the facts of the case.

However, if the case has to continue, we will position your case for the settlement stage. We’re going to attempt to work out matters either through mediation, or some other form of alternative dispute resolution.

If we’re not able to work it out, the court will call us back in, and we will participate in a pre-trial conference, where we’re going to try one last time to get the case settled, with the assistance of the judge.

The fourth phase involves preparation for and actually trying the case. The judge has 90 days to issue a written decision following the end of the trial, and if either party is dissatisfied with the outcome, they have an additional 60 days in which to file an appeal.

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