To be a good negotiator, your client needs to be fully informed of the law.
Typically, women start out in the divorce process with lower self-images than do men, and therefore have lower aspirations. I cannot count the number of women who have come into my office, devastated by the failure of their marriage, with terribly bruised egos, a loss of self-respect, and the resulting low expectations for what they can reasonably expect from a divorce settlement. My response is to inundate them with caselaw, statutes, articles, self help publications, psychological resources, and referrals to support groups, knowing that at least some of the broad barrage of information will break through their self image defenses.
I remind them that "knowledge is power" and urge them to train themselves in the different aspects of divorce--legal, emotional, and economic. I encourage them to set up separate offices with the reminder that this transaction is one of the most important of their lives; they need to study, study, study. As clients empower themselves during this information phase, I see almost daily improvements in self image. Only when I feel the clients are ready do I urge them into negotiations.