Trust, the most important ingredient to negotiation, is in short supply in the middle of a divorce. It is important, however, that the client not be experiencing self-defeating emotions before going to the negotiating table--or the client should not be at the table alone. If all this client does is antagonize the other spouse and attack that spouse's sense of self-worth, you risk any negotiation gains that might have been realized had your client been in a more mature frame of mind. Better to tell the client to write a long, angry letter to the spouse...and then tear it up.

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