Our Firm serves clients in Eastern North Carolina who are faced with the stress and complexity of family law problems. One of our partners, Linda B. Sayed, is certified by the North Carolina State Bar as a Family Law Specialist. The North Carolina State Bar, an agency of the State of North Carolina, certifies lawyers as specialists in designated practice areas as a service to the public. The certification program assists members of the public in the selection of legal counsel by identifying lawyers who have demonstrated special knowledge, skill, and proficiency in certain areas of law. Visit NC Law Specialists website for more information on the specialist program

We offer a broad range of family law legal services. Our firm prepares premarital agreements (also known as prenuptial agreements), post-marital agreements, and separation and property settlement agreements. We also represent clients in court actions involving divorce, child custody, child support, post-separation support, contempt, property sequestration, alimony and equitable distribution of marital property and debt. In addition, we help clients with name changes, adoptions, paternity, legitimations, and cases involving allegations by the Department of Social Services of abuse, neglect and dependency.

Our philosophy for cases involving children is that the “best interest” of the children is our “polar star.” We strive to ensure that children are cared for financially as well as emotionally by both parents, to the extent that both parents are qualified and able to act responsibly in promoting the well-being of their children. While we prefer to resolve family law matters using the mediation processor the collaborative family law model, we recognize that in some cases a more aggressive approach to resolving family law matters may be required to achieve the goals of our clients. It is the lawyer’s job to advise clients about the law, to counsel clients about the legal and practical options that may be available, to guide clients to make good choices, and to make the tactical decisions in each case. However, it is the client who must make the crucial decisions about the ultimate goals to be achieved in a family law case.

Family law cases can very expensive, and a client must have adequate financial resources to reach his goals, especially when experts are needed. In appropriate cases, we work with psychologists, accountants, real estate appraisers and business valuation experts to assist us in making appropriate recommendations to our clients. In such cases, we first confer with our clients and determine whether such an expert is needed for a particular issue, as hiring such experts can be quite expensive. Routine family law cases can take months or years to resolve; a “simple case” can become complex and expensive, especially if the opposing party is overly aggressive. While a judge has discretion to award attorneys’ fees in some instances, a client cannot rely on an award of attorneys’ fees to finance a family law case.

Our attorneys have the knowledge, competence, compassion, experience, personal skills, and dedication to effectively counsel clients through distressing and difficult domestic situations. Our attorneys have excellent trial and negotiation skills. Our practical experience with family law issues is enhanced by our involvement in professional organizations such as the American Bar Association, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. We are well versed in both state and federal law, as well as in North Carolina case law related to the divorce process and other family law legal issues. We pride ourselves on providing excellent service to each client that is ethical, efficient and as economical as practical. In return, we expect our clients to be honest with us, to promptly pay our fees, to treat us, including our staff members with courtesy, and to cooperate fully with the attorneys and staff members as a case progresses.

If you are interested in talking with us about your family law matter, please contact us to schedule an initial consultation.