Heidi S. Risser

I work with my clients to help their families avoid litigation and to find the best possible solution for that client's particular situation.  I believe litigation is not an ideal solution for family law problems, because it discourages open truth-telling and encourages hostility and polarization.  Also, litigation is usually costlier and more time consuming than when parites use collaborative methods to resolve their differences.  The benefits of Collaborative family law methods are that the parties share information and work together to find areas of commonality and solutions that will benefit the whole family.  When parties use collaborative methods, the parties dictate the timing, not the courts, and the process is private.  

I also work with parents in high conflict custody situations to decrease the hostility and to help those parents effectively co-parent their children. This type of work is know as Parent Coordination.  I am a certified Parent Coordinator.