I had the opportunity to speak with an attorney who only practices collaborative divorce. She stands out in the field as she has dedicated her practice solely to alternative dispute resolutions, with the intention of supporting people through divorce with minimal conflict and promoting working post-divorce relationships, especially when children are involved. This attorney is Meegan Reis.
Meegan has been practicing law since 1998, with her focus shifting from being a trial attorney to mediation and collaboration within the last 10 years. One of her biggest accomplishments in this area was being able to create a case resolution program for the Strafford County Attorney’ Office for alternative resolution and sentencing. The goal was to get both sides to agree on a fair resolution, and this was done by seeing what each side needed and fitting those needs in the most fair and equal way possible. This has proven to be successful as New Hampshire’s criminal justice system’s first alternative dispute resolution.
Moving back into private practice, Meegan has devoted all her time to collaborative divorce and mediation. Even with the change in her career throughout the years, Meegan has told me it’s important to put as much energy into your ending as your beginning. In talking about collaborative law specifically, she told me that she believes psychology and law need to go together. It makes the most sense in being able to help figure out the best solution in some of these challenging cases. She stated that emotions are really the driving factor, and it takes a great team to be able to work together and figure out the best solution.
Meegan has completed mediation training on both sides of the country, with being able to complete 80 hours of training for her New Hampshire Family Mediator Certification, Collaborative Divorce, and Neuroscience in Family Law here in New Hampshire, and another 40 hours of Family Law Mediation Training in Los Angeles, CA. She’s currently a board member of the New Hampshire Collaborative Law Alliance. Learn more about Meegan here: https://www.ddr-law.com/
Kylie Grenier is an intern for the New Hampshire Collaborative Law Alliance and a senior at Southern New Hampshire University studying psychology and justice studies.