Henry S. Gornbein is a member of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan where he served as chairperson of the Family Law Council from 1984 through 1985. He has been a Fellow to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers since 1979, and was president of the Michigan Chapter of the Academy from 1985 through 1986. He is co-author of Michigan Family Law, Fourth Edition. Mr. Gornbein is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association, a past president of the Michigan Inter-Professional Association of Marriage, Divorce and the Family from 1983 through 1985; member of the American Bar Association; former member of the Board of Directors to Jewish Family Service and Catholic Social Services of Oakland County; and past president and former member of the Board of Directors of the The Sanctuary. He has also lectured on numerous occasions on topics involving divorce, child custody, and other family law matters. Mr. Gornbein was also a columnist for the Oakland Press from 1975 through 1981. He is currently a member of the Family Law and Continuing Legal Education Committees of the Oakland County Bar Association. In addition to divorce and child custody, Henry S. Gornbein has an extensive mediation practice.
Henry S. Gornbein is the founding and managing partner in the law firm of Gornbein Smith Peskin-Shepherd PLLC, of Bloomfield Hills, whose attorneys specialize in matrimonial law, including divorce, child custody, prenuptial agreements, divorce mediation, arbitration, and paternity.
· Practice
Gornbein's areas of expertise include divorce, family law, child custody, child support, visitation rights, prenuptial agreements, divorce mediation, arbitration and paternity.
· Guiding philosophy
Gornbein sees each case as unique. He is determined to reduce the stress of divorce as much as possible and prides himself on combining his legal acumen with sensitivity and compassion. His goal is to resolve issues in an amicable fashion and goes to trial only as a last resort.
· Background
Gornbein has been a mediator and arbitrator in hundreds of divorce cases. He has been lecturer for the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Family Law Section of State Bar of Michigan, American Bar Association, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, and numerous other organizations. Gornbein is the author of numerous family law articles for the Law Practice Management section of the ABA, Economics of Law Practice Journal, Laches, Michigan Family Law Journal and Michigan Bar Journal as well as the chapter on spousal support in Michigan Family Law Book, published by ICLE. He is founder and legal editor and principle owner of the Web site DivorceOnline.com, an electronic journal of family law issues. Gornbein is the creator, producer and host of the long running popular cable television show, "Practical Law."
· Memberships & Honors
Gornbein received the Oakland County Bar Association 2004 Professionalism Award. He is a member and former president of the Michigan Inter Professional Association on Marriage, Divorce and the Family; chairman of the Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan; fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, president Michigan Chapter; Gornbein is a member of: the Family Law Section of the ABA, Oakland County Bar Association, Law Practice Management Council of the State Bar of Michigan, the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the Long Range Planning and Public Relations Committees of the National American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
· Civic & Cultural Involvement
Gornbein has served on the board of directors and executive board of Catholic Social Services of Oakland County; a member of the board of directors of Jewish Family Services, Fresh Air Society, the Sanctuary (past president) and Dads Empowered; and legal columnist for the Oakland Press 1974-1980.
· Education
Gornbein received his bachelor's degree from Monteith College, Wayne State University and his law degree from the University of Michigan. He was president of the Monteith College Student Faculty Council and member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honorary Society.
The Law Offices of Gornbein Smith Peskin-Shepherd PLLC
Website: www.FamilyLawOfMichigan.com
40900 Woodward Avenue
Suite 111
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
248. 594. 3444
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Larry Friedberg
Dr. Friedberg is a psychologist in private practice in Franklin, Michigan, which is in Oakland County. He is affiliated with a group practice, Psychological Institutes of Michigan, P.C. Psychological Institutes of Michigan was the first mental health practice in the state of Michigan owned by psychologists.
For more than 25 years, Dr. Friedberg has treated children, adolescents, adults, couples and families.
Education
Dr. Friedberg earned the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from The University of Michigan, graduating from U of M's Joint Program in Clinical and Developmental Psychology in 1984. He interned at the university's Children's Psychiatric Hospital and Psychological Clinic, receiving training there in working with children, adolescents and adults.
Clinical Practice
Dr. Friedberg has worked in many different settings as a psychologist: in outpatient clinics, in day treatment and inpatient hospital settings (for adults, adolescents and children), and in both psychiatric and substance-abuse treatment facilities.
His clinical work at present is in an outpatient setting, providing individual therapy, marital therapy and family therapy.
In addition to Dr. Friedberg's work as a psychotherapist, he also specializes in psychological evaluations. These include personality assessment, assessment for ADHD and learning disabilities, among other diagnostic questions.
Dr. Friedberg has also practiced extensively in the arena of forensic psychology. He has performed hundreds of custody evaluations and scores of evaluations for civil and criminal matters. He has been admitted many times as an expert witness in Oakland, Wayne, Macomb, Washtenaw, and Ingham Counties, among other judicial circuits, and in Federal court.
He often works with divorcing parents to help them make joint decisions about future parenting arrangements, and with divorced families to reduce the level of conflict to which their children are exposed. In many family law matters, Dr. Friedberg has served as a mediator or parenting coordinator, working with parents and attorneys to work out solutions to parenting issues or disputes. He has been appointed as Parenting Coordinator in well over a hundred cases over the past 15 years.
Presentations
Dr. Friedberg has presented on forensic psychology in Family Law matters to many organizations, including: the Michigan Inter-Professional Association on Marriage, Divorce and the Family (MIPA), the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (Michigan Chapter), the Oakland and Wayne County Circuit Court judges and referees, the American Bar Association- Family Law Section, the Michigan Bar Association-Family Law Section, the Oakland County Bar Association, the Wayne County Bar Association-Family Law Section, and the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association.
He is a regular presenter for the SMILE Program (Start Making It Livable for Everyone), a mandatory program in Oakland County for divorcing persons who have children under 18.
Professional Organizations
Dr. Friedberg served as President of the Michigan Psychological Association in 2001, and currently as President of the Michigan Interprofessional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family (2007-2010). Dr. Friedberg has served on the boards of the Michigan Psychological Association, the Michigan Psychological Association Foundation, and the Michigan Interprofessional Association on Marriage, Divorce, and the Family. He also served on the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association.
Dr. Friedberg won the 1999 Distinguished Psychologist Award and the 2007 Beth Clark Service Award, both awarded by the Michigan Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of that Association, current chair of its Communications Committee, and former chair of its Insurance Committee. He also sits on MPA's Ethics Committee.
Psychological Institutes of Michigan, P.C.
26111 W. 14 Mile Rd., Ste. 104
Franklin Village, MI 48025
Phone: 248-626-4622
http://www.drlarryfriedberg.com
Sondra BenNaEim
I think it has always been my nature to be a peacemaker. I was always the one mediating family disputes and disagreements between my friends. I always believed, and I still do, that you do not have to "gut the opposition" in order to reach an agreement where all participants feel they were a part of the process and satisfied with the outcome. This does not mean that when I need to be a strong advocate I can't. In a collaborative case where the situation calls for it, a strong advocate is what you will get.My first career was in the financial field where I spent ten years in the banking and mortgage business. When I became pregnant with my youngest child I decided to stay home and raise her. She is now grown and I found I had to reinvent myself. I wanted something new. The law had always interested me so, as an adult, I went back to law school and the second chapter of my life began.
I gravitated to Divorce Mediation, Collaborative Law, Stepfamily Mediation, and Family Law Mediation because I felt there were voices that were not being heard. Not just the voices of the couple divorcing; those of the children involved as well.
So often between the hurt and fear, the divorcing couple forgets there are children involved- children who are real people with real feelings; not just pawns to be used in the process of divorce.
If the divorcing couple can remember that although they will not always be husband and wife, they will always be mom and dad, they are miles ahead of their litigating counterparts and will likely benefit from mediation or the collaborative process.
Sometimes it is not a divorcing couple mediating. Perhaps they are already divorced and issues have come up that need to be revisited and mediated. Perhaps it is an unmarried couple that need mediation to work out issues dealing with their child(ren). Sometimes it is other family members who have issues they feel would benefit from mediation. Most situations can be mediated as long as the parties have an open mind and mediate in good faith.
Persons with special needs are also often without a voice. I also work with families to help them determine what they need to do to protect their special needs family members through a limited conservatorship.
My word is important to me. I expect people to say what they mean and mean what they say. I want you to know that if I say I will do something I will. Whether that be returning a telephone call, sending you something through the mail, researching something, etc. One of my pet peeves is when someone says they will call me back and they don't. I promise that I will return your phone call within 24 hours (most times sooner) even if it is to say I don't have an answer; I am still researching it.
I would be honored to be able to help guide you through either the mediation or collaborative process so that you may determine your own outcome. Also, if you have a special needs person in your life I can help you determine whether a limited conservatorship is appropriate for your loved one.
Please call to schedule an appointment: Sondra BenNaEim @ (714) 619-9344
1851 East First Street
Suite 900
Santa Ana, CA 92705
[email protected]
Phone: 714-619-9344
http://www.mediate.com/sbennaeim//index.cfm
