Joanna Cummins Kahan

My high conflict divorce lasted a little over 4 years and it involved an angry ex and two children, one newborn and the other 16 months when we began our journey. Despite having had 3 successive presiding judges admonish my ex for dragging divorce unnecessarily, ex refused to settle and we had two tr...ials, one each for custody and child support. The mental trauma this causes was real. I would not have made it through without Joanna’s tireless support. Having an experienced attorney to guide me through the process was critical, but having a smart and dedicated associate was equally crucial. Joanna was there in the weeds (I cannot stress how important this is in a high conflict case like mine), she pored over boxes of financial statements from a dozen different banks, she created charts and spreadsheets to synthesize the volumes of financial data, she drew up timelines to keep track of my ex’s lies (valuable during cross), she asked probing questions and tirelessly investigated my ex’s financial status. Joanna spent weekends and holidays building the framework of my case so that my lead attorney, Dawn Cardi, could articulate her arguments clearly so the judge "gets it". Joanna built our case. Had my lead attorney, Dawn Cardi, done what Joanna did, my divorce would not have been as cost effective and frankly, I wanted Dawn to think big picture, to guide the process instead of being bogged down by the details. But this is not to say that any associate would do. Joanna’s charts and analysis created a solid foundation for our case. She remembered facts from years ago, she pointed out discrepancies in my ex’s various court filings and she connected the dots, sometimes in real time during trial. Sometimes I felt like Joanna was our human computer or library. Joanna isn’t just a smart lawyer and a hard-working associate, she is a rare combination of a lawyer who is comfortable with both words and numbers. And she empathizes with her clients. I am often asked why being in finance, I couldn’t pore over my ex’s bank account statements and built my own spreadsheets. The answer is 1) I didn’t have the time because I needed to work and provide for my family, and 2) I needed Joanna to be the objective eyes in reviewing the docs. Joanna did the work of 3 associates and being so emotionally close to the case, I wouldn’t have been able to think clearly. Joanna lived and breathed my case from beginning to end; I needed to distance myself to remain sane. The tireless work Joanna did enabled my case to settle so my children and I could move on with our lives. I will be forever indebted to Joanna - I recommend her wholeheartedly.