Legal Coaching & Mediation Consultation in Kansas City

Think of this option as having an “on call” law firm. Family Law Legal Coaching and Mediation Consulting allow you to improve the likelihood of success and obtain regular legal advice on an as needed basis.

Many of the clients that enjoy full scale representation during their contested legal matter elect to remain clients for legal coaching and assistance following their matter. Frequently, those clients find that it is helpful and in fact, aids in avoiding litigation to touch base and address problem-solving opportunities and co-parenting improvement or other nagging issues and get legal advice and guidance on a regular basis rather than waiting until the point that things have gone entirely off-track and the parties are back in contested litigation.

In legal coaching or mediation consultation, you remain in control of your case and legal matter while we can assist you with guidance, input, give thoughts about how a judge or your specific judge assigned to your case may react to various evidence, behavior or other information and discuss ensuring that your case is moving forward in a timely fashion if you want us to analyze that issue with you. 

Allow our attorneys at Pingel Family Law to provide legal coaching or other insight for your divorce, child custody or other family law matter. At Pingel Family Law, we recognize every family is unique, the needs of each family are even more unique and we want to be here to support you and your family at this time in whatever capacity you believe is best for your family. Some of our legal coaching clients have benefitted the most from our guidance in the following areas:

•  Negotiating and implementing a legal strategy, particularly alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that attempt to avoid litigation or court intervention when you are experiencing difficulties with the other parent; 
• Giving guidance on drafting of documents that you plan to present in court;
• Giving you legal guidance on an agreement prepared through mediation and advising on areas that may need change, revision or Review and ‘sign off’ on an Agreement;
• Providing advice, guidance and negotiation strategies through your Mediation process and/or efforts to reconcile your marriage in the midst of a potential separation or divorce process;
• Teaching you about how the law applies in your particular case or circumstances, often consulting with clients many months or even years before an anticipated divorce or other family law case to ensure you understand strategies to best protect your short-term and long-term interests;

 At Pingel Family Law, we take great pride in our mindful approach built on excellence. Whether our legal coaching can help you for a limited, single session or you decide our coaching can help you avoid litigation for years to come, we can assist you in the following ways that measure our success and the value of the legal coaching we can provide:

• Avoiding costly mistakes or oversights;
• Giving you needed, no-nonsense advice;
• Developing legal strategy for mediation or litigation by discussing your needs and how the law applies to your needs
• Providing tips and considerations for litigating your case (from how to present your case to who your judge is and what that specific judge will likely expect of your behavior and interactions with the other party;
• Helping you to evaluate your legal claim, position or planned course of action;
• Helping you prepare documents or plan for filing and serving legal documents;
• Answering questions as they may arise when litigation is not likely called for at the present time;
• Being on call in your case and being prepared/staying up to date in case you decide you want to have our office step in and provide full scale representation;
• Discussing or planning for your future financial needs, including evaluating the best assets or options for your financial settlement based on the needs of you and your family going forward;
• Suggesting or recommending various experts that may be able to assist you in your circumstances;
• Discussing strategies for implementing and following through or honoring agreements reached through mediation or even ordered by the court;

What is Legal Coaching?

“Legal coaching” has an opportunity to be very flexible. It can be defined based on what your individual needs are and what the lawyer you are consulting with feels capable or competent of providing you with. It allows for behind the scenes regular guidance on the various aspects of lawyering to provide you strategies and tools to address your case needs, including even if litigation is not needed at the present time.

What does legal coaching involve?

Legal coaching is a broad term for a number of different services that we can provide you. Often our legal coaching is based on the unique requests of clients who identify specific areas of concern that they would like to receive advice, input or assistance on.  Often, the best legal advice is not needed to guide you through litigation but to guide you in the process of avoiding litigation. Many people when they meet with us regret one or more actions that they have taken as they begin to understand how it may negatively affect their future case, their children or even the outcome of litigation. Don’t have this happen to you! Invest in legal coaching before deep-seated problems arise to avoid litigation. Investing in occasional legal coaching sessions, even on a regular basis, is a significant cost savings compared to entering into contested or high-conflict family law litigation. Invest in a future with reduced stress, hopefully less time in court or litigating and ideally, if we are successful, better co-parenting and cooperation with your child’s other parent.

What are the attributes of an excellent legal coach?

At Pingel Family Law we believe the most important aspects of Family Law Legal Coaching include a deep, significant understanding of the family court system and what is expected of you through the court process and secondly, listening skills. Legal coaching is about empowering you to successfully navigate your circumstances and that can only be achieved by truly listening- not just hearing- about your needs and circumstances and then being a creative problem-solver to guide you through finding solutions that meet your needs and allow you to continue to engage in behaviors that the court would approve of, if presented to a judge.

Often in our cases where clients feel that the legal coaching has been successful, they will say that we have significantly helped them to have awareness, education and understanding of the “big” picture, often educating them about smaller or more minor issues that they don’t need to focus or engage in significant battles over. We can also aid you in identifying and clarifying goals, helping you find a path to improved performance in the litigation process and strategy, empower you and build your confidence to make decisions and clearly articulate those decisions and increase your problem-solving skills and tools to find resolution.

What are we hopeful your benefits from legal coaching will be?

Primarily we want to focus on educating you, and building increased self-awareness. It is easy to see the circumstances of your family law case or situation from your own personal viewpoint, but often considering the circumstances from other viewpoints will empower you to re-frame issues and make the best possible decisions for the circumstances, ensure your decisions are child-focused and ideally, reduce fighting and discord with your child’s other parent.

It is vital that you understand each person’s involvement and role in your family law situation. A knowledgeable legal coach can help you understand these perspectives and how they can impact the potential for a positive outcome.

Another common benefit from legal coaching is your ability to better set your goals and priorities. When you understand the “big picture” it’s easier to not get caught up in the small, insignificant details. In family law litigation, the more your goals are tied to the needs and best interests of your children and in trying to facilitate cooperation and co-parenting with the other parent, the increased likelihood you will be able to better facilitate the outcome you are hopeful for.

Similarly, if we can provide you with enhanced communication skills, some of the miscommunications and frustrating struggles that you may have been experiencing will likely be diminished or reduced entirely. Good family law attorneys are excellent problem solvers and master communicators. Allow us to teach you some of those skills so that you can use them to the benefit of your family and situation.

Finally, many of our clients report increased self-confidence and empowerment. Having an educated, knowledgeable family law attorney verify, confirm and support your strategies is helpful to feel confidence and security in the decisions you are making. Similarly, knowing that we can help correct misconceptions and give you truthful and necessary guidance when your steps or actions are not correct, will empower you to make meaningful changes so that any areas of concern can hopefully be corrected and addressed in new ways rather than brought to the attention of the judge to deal with.  Along with confidence and empowerment, a natural side-effect is decreased stress levels. When you know you are getting the knowledge and education necessary to help your family and make the best of a difficult situation, it will almost always allow you feel confidence and pride rather than helpless despair.

What will legal coaching not provide:

We will not provide therapy. Therapy’s goal is to focus on the past or present, address and resolve difficult issues and emotional functioning. In legal coaching, we are only focusing on the future and achieving your goals and outcomes based on a legal-centered, problem solving approach. Our goal, through legal coaching is to help you develop strategies and action items to achieve your specific, individual goals. We are also not here to provide training. We want to empower you with education to make long-term changes and improvement, not to oversight and manage your day to day communication and case needs. 

If you believe that legal coaching is or may be right for you and your family’s needs, call our intake specialist today to discuss the possibilities of legal coaching. If you are looking for a mindful approach built on excellence, schedule your consultation today at (816) 208-8130.