Child Custody and Visitation Attorney in Eagan, Minnesota
Can you tell us about a memorable situation you handled involving high conflict parenting time?
Can you tell us about a memorable situation you handled involving high conflict parenting time?
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yeah again i would go back to the 13-day
trial i had about a year and a half ago
where there was
a lot of conflict there was a custody
evaluation that was not necessarily
favorable to my client making a
recommendation for joint the evaluator
had missed substantial pieces of
information
that were
beneficial to my client and not
beneficial to the opposing party so we
had to draw out information a lot of
times
gathering
they used a communication format called
our family wizard that you can document
all their communication and we were able
to point to
discrepancies in communication format by
mother that were
devastating to the children including
there were some problems for the kids
requiring some interventions medically
and mother was taking upon herself to
do this without involving father and
exhibiting some unusual behavior i would
say even on the bizarre edge of behavior
so and the attorney that was supporting
her was just supporting her and it was
uh
you know i don’t think it was the best
work on their part but i think it was
a matter of pointing to the court and
saying here’s the discrepancies here’s
what needs to happen here’s how my
client has behaved this is what my
client has done to support the children
those are the things that i think that
really matter and and staying child
focused in this
uh process is really important not
getting so focused on what the other
spouse is doing even though that’s
certainly a consideration but you want
to be able to
always focus on what are the kids
needing here and how can i meet their
needs and that that goes a long way with
the court so they understand you’re
really there to to help the children in
this process
Eagan, MN family law attorney, Susan M. Gallagher shares the story of a memorable situation she handled involving high conflict parenting time. She reflects on a 13-day trial she handled about a year and a half ago, which involved significant conflict. The custody evaluation initially was not favorable to her client, as the evaluator had overlooked substantial information that supported her client’s position. She and her team had to carefully gather and present this information. They used a communication platform called Our Family Wizard to document interactions, which revealed discrepancies in the mother’s communications that were harmful to the children, including medical interventions undertaken without the father’s involvement and behavior that verged on the bizarre.
She notes that the opposing attorney merely supported the mother, and their work was not thorough. Her strategy focused on presenting clear evidence to the court: highlighting the discrepancies, showing how her client had consistently supported the children, and emphasizing her client’s responsible behavior. She stresses that maintaining a child-focused approach is crucial. While the other parent’s behavior is relevant, the primary concern should always be the children’s needs. This focus, she believes, carries significant weight with the court, demonstrating that her client’s priority is the well-being of the children throughout the process.
