My book, The Constructive Divorce is dedicated to providing tools and techniques to lawyers and clients to handle divorces in a way that “leaves a family left standing even though there is no marriage.” In the Introduction to the book, I write: “The purpose of this book is to provide a guide to resolving family disputes in a manner which will lead to long term positive results for the families and children of divorce. This book is for family lawyers and their clients. There are many reasons to focus on long term constructive results for families. First, and most important, family problems almost always involve children. Poor handling of the family problem can leave scars on children which never heal.” A recent front page article in the Jackson Clarion-Ledger featured the problem of parental fighting and its damaging impact on children. The courageous high school valedictorian featured in the article openly described the damage that her parent’s fighting had on her. As a family lawyer, I hear reports every day of people who cannot contain their venom for their spouse or ex-spouse, and who fight in front of their children or who use their children as pawns in the battle. I shudder to think of the long term damage done in our society by this conduct.
