Holly Hohlbein Wotherspoon

I would highly recommend Holly and the collaborative divorce process if you are faced with ending a long term marriage. Holly assembled an experienced multidisciplinary team, and patiently coached me through the process guiding me through the "ups and downs" along the way. The outcome was successful in preserving respect and dignity on both sides, likely reduced the overall cost, and helped me learn and grow so that I can move forward with the next phase of my life. I would not hesitate to recommend Holly based on her legal, interpersonal, and process skills for people seeking a collaborative divorce.

From our first meeting, Holly was knowledgeable,professional, and inspired great confidence in her abilities. I knew she always had my best interests in mind as her top priority. She not only served as my legal representative in my collaborative divorce case, but also as my coach and counselor as needed. Her expertise and experience in the field of collaborative law were fully evident every time we met. Her services are worth every penny.

This was one of the most difficult times in my life and Holly helped me through it. She not only watched out for me legally, but emotionally as well. I chose to use the collaborative divorce process hoping to maintain some sort of relationship with my ex-husband for the sake of our kids. There were definitely times when I just wanted to say "forget it", but I was able to talk with Holly and she would remind me of how far we had gotten, what we still had left to do and how I could chose to conduct myself so I could get to my end goal. I feel that Holly helped me ask for what I needed in my divorce and to stand up for myself. In the end I got a divorce that feels fair and equitable, and although the process was long and painful at times, I couldn't imagine going through it without Holly's help and guidance. Holly was referred to me by a friend of a friend, and if someone came to me asking for a name I wouldn't hesitate giving them Holly's.

Holly was my counsel during my collaborative divorce which took most of 2009 to complete. Mine was a difficult but not impossible case to resolve via the collaborative process, and I was more committed to and ready for a collaborative divorce than my spouse was. I now realize that one spouse can be ready for and committed to the collaborative process while the other is not. Holly did not recognize this that my spouse was not ready, and neither did I. Holly also did not recognize the manipulative and deceptive strategy and tactics that my spouse employed to use the collaborative process (and my good nature) to her advantage. Holly should have seen through this based on her level of intelligence and experience. Holly is intelligent and very knowledgeable regarding collaborative law, but she was more committed to the collaborative process itself and achieving a joint resolution that she was with me - her client! She was not an advocate for my custodial rights as a parent and didn't stand firm on several issues during the financial settlement and parenting plan negotiations. As a result, in 2010 I was forced to seek out and employ new/traditional legal counsel and go through the dispute resolution process (up to and including mediation) to revise some parts of the parenting plan that were not in my best interests. This has proven time consuming and expensive. Holly should have guarded and advocated the rights of her client (me) and she didn't. I would NOT recommend you retain Holly as your counsel if you believe your soon-to-be ex-spouse is not fully capable of playing fairly within the limits of the collaborative divorce process, or if you want/need an attorney that is an advocate/champion for her client.