One of the first things I ask in my consultations is: "What do you want to accomplish?" Not infrequently clients say - I'm not kidding - "I want my ex-spouse to burn in hell." I'm happy to oblige under the right circumstances.

It's important to me that clients understand the law and how it will apply to their circumstances. They need to understand the range of likely outcomes and how we can better position them within that range. Generally, once we've identified specific (often aggressive) goals and strategies, raining down fire and brimstone tends to give way to more productive endeavors.

Divorce litigation is a dynamic process. A "one size fits all" approach can't and doesn't fit anyone. I like that because I'm not a "one trick pony." Our firm crafts specific strategies to achieve specific goals, and we work hard for our clients from the outset.

All of us - Jerry, Grant, myself and our associates - have a common work ethic: We work hard. What we do every day is important to us and we are highly motivated. We tell each other that being among the top three or five divorce firms in Northern Virginia isn't enough. Each of us wants to be "the man to see" when it comes to divorce and we have a healthy sense of competition in that regard. It's part of what makes our firm a great place to work. I believe clients pick up on that; we are attracting what seems to be the most challenging and highest stakes cases in the area.

I've never met a lawyer who prepares for a case like Jerry Curran. He's driven by a deep sense of duty to his clients and, as a result, he leaves no stone unturned. We joke that if you are one of his clients, he'll know your life better than you do by the time trial rolls around.

I refer some cases to mediation, but not many. For one thing, I fear the duplication of costs. If I can't convince the other side to be reasonable, I'm hesitant to believe a mediator would have better luck. For another, mediation only seems to work with certain opposing counsels and certain clients. That balance has to be right. Otherwise, I'm happy to go to court.

Perhaps because I'm enmeshed in divorce all day, people are often surprised that I'm "pro-marriage." There are great reasons to be married. I love being married.

As I wrote in my blog, "Too often divorce clients come in focused only on sex; they are too eager to cast off their marriage for the prospect of mind-altering sex every night. Trading all of the comforts and benefits of your current marriage for a more agile sex partner may not be a trade you want to make. Your marriage isn't broken if you're not having 'movie-star' sex."