S. Camille Milner

I waited 4 months after my divorce was complete to separate my feelings about my divorce, relative to the services of Ms. Milner, relative to my opinions about the collaborative divorce process. The brief version: Pros: knowledgeable, professional, kind, willing to do what you ask Cons: ine...ffective, poor customer service due to being one person shop, poor understanding of when to be strong and when to bend, poor ability to deal with challenging personalities The longer version: Ms. Milner is a professional, competent, kind attorney with a good understanding of the collaborative process. My divorce had many challenges, as I'm sure most do, and my ex-wife I learned is what is termed a "high conflict" personality. I believe Ms. Milner did her best to represent me, but I would not recommend her to a friend going through a divorce. In general, the collaborative process sounds good on paper, but if you are in a situation with a mature and understanding future ex, it is my opinion that similar if not better results may be obtained by some version of healthy conversation at the kitchen table and use of a single attorney for cost savings. This is an expensive process. However, that is a general concern and not specific to Ms. Milner. My belief is that Ms. Milner very much needs greater support staff, and I often felt ignored or put on the back burner as she simply has more to do in a day than can be done. I think a larger firm, that has staff available for minor issues and can address the client needs more promptly provides much better customer service and at lesser cost (paraprofessional fees versus attorney fees). I also found Ms. Milner to be relatively unskilled when it comes to understanding when a position of strength is needed. While was not privy to her private conversations with other attorney, and some issues are out of her control, the results were not suggestive of a good understanding of when to push and when to lay off. I often found her suggestions to be ineffective. In the end, she was receptive to my imperatives regarding dealing with an intransigent future ex, and that strategy was effective. Again, while she is an intelligent, kind, ethical, and knowledgeable attorney, I suggest better representation may be found elsewhere.