Lawyer Bill

06/16/2026

Fathers, Courts, and What the Law Actually Says

Every June, right around Father’s Day, I get a version of the same call. A father who believes the court system is set against him. Who has heard from someone at work or a buddy at the gym that judges always favor mothers. Who has already half-convinced himself that fighting for meaningful time wi...

06/09/2026

What Happens in Mediation (And Why Judges Like It)

My clients tell me the same thing before every mediation. This is a waste of time. They will never agree to anything. This is a waste of money. Why are we even doing this. I have heard it so many times I could say it for them. And I am still amazed, every single time, […]

06/02/2026

What a Parenting Plan Actually Has to Say

I keep a folder in my office of parenting plans I wish I had written. Not because they are beautifully drafted (though some are). Because they actually work. The other folder is thicker. That one is full of plans where someone thought “we’ll figure it out as we go” was a good approach to raisi...

05/26/2026

Military Divorce in Tennessee: A Different Set of Rules

I have a lot of respect for the men and women who serve this country. And one of the ways I try to show it is by making sure that when they come through my door going through a divorce, I know the rules that apply specifically to them. Because military divorce has a different […]

05/19/2026

What Your Social Media Is Saying to the Judge

A client of mine posted a photo on a Friday night. Just a normal night out. Friends, drinks, big smiles. Nothing she would have thought twice about. Her ex’s attorney showed it to the judge the following Tuesday to argue she was an irresponsible parent. She kept custody. But she spent money she di...

05/12/2026

Co-Parenting When One of You Doesn’t Want To

Let me settle one question before we get into the harder stuff. Mother’s Day belongs to mom. Father’s Day belongs to dad. In almost every parenting plan I have ever written or reviewed, these holidays go to the respective parent regardless of whose regular weekend it is. That part is generally n...

05/05/2026

How Child Support Gets Calculated in Tennessee

If I had a dollar for every time a client told me what they thought child support was going to be based on what their neighbor said, I could retire. (I am not retiring. But I could.) Child support in Tennessee is not a negotiation. It is not based on what seems fair to either […]

04/28/2026

Material Change in Circumstances: The Hardest Standard in Family Court

People call me all the time wanting to change their custody order. And the first thing I have to tell almost all of them is the same thing: Wanting to change it is not enough. Feeling like things are different is not enough. Even being right is not always enough. To modify a parenting plan […]

04/21/2026

Irreconcilable Differences: What That Actually Means in Tennessee

I had a client tell me once that she wanted a divorce because her husband chewed too loud. She was not joking. Or rather, she was joking about the chewing, but she was not joking about wanting out. What she was really saying was what most people mean when they say irreconcilable differences: this ma...

04/14/2026

In my mind this is what my mailbox will look like when I arrive home today. Happy "National Be Nice To Lawyers Day" to all who celebrate!