Litigation Is Like Brain Surgery: Another View of the $7.4 Million Divorce

Yesterday, a frequent contributor to the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas blog, Tracy Stewart, wrote about an article in the latest version of D Magazine, about a couple that spent $7.4 million on a litigation-style divorce to determine what would happen to a $100 million estate — only to not arrive at a settlement. It took hiring collaborative lawyers, at a fraction of the cost (because almost any figure would be a fraction of $7.4 million!), to come to an agreement and a finalized divorce.

Norma Trusch, a frequent contributor to the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas blog and longtime champion of collaborative law, took a look at the case on her own blog. She notes, in an intriguing analogy, that litigation is like brain surgery, in that “you don’t hire a neurosurgeon at the first sign of a headache, and in most cases . . . you don’t hire a litigator before you’ve explored approaches to solving your legal issues that are less expensive and less polarizing” than squaring off in court.

Also, we’d like to extend a hat tip to the KoonsFuller blog, Lone Star Divorce. KoonsFuller partner Kevin Fuller was one of the lawyers who helped Ed and Lee Bailey settle what $7.4 million worth of litigation couldn’t, and Lone Star Divorce re-posted the initial D magazine article here, as well as a link to Tracy’s post.