Linda de Beer
Lake Elmo (Near Woodbury), Minnesota 55042
United States
Profession(s)
LawyerCollaborative Law helps families resolve their legal issues with less emotional and financial cost. Who wants to spend hard earned money on attorney fees, when there are so many other important demands on family fainances? As a litigator, I can say that collaborative law costs far less than the traditional litigation method. As a mediator, I can also say that collaborative law offers legal advice at your elbow, somethign that usually isn't present int he mediation setting. Collaborative law is a powerful blend of the attorney providing guidance and education to the client, while the client maintains full control and direction of the case. Basically, we guide but you decide! I recommend this approach whenever possible to friends and family that are facing potential legal issues. As a mother of three, and step mom to one, I have experienced first hand some of the changes your family may be facing. I bring years of legal experience, as well as very positive personal experiences about family change, to the settlement table. I look forward to helping you and your family find and evaluate solutions that enhance your family's circumstances.
I also have unique experience representing business owners or the spouse of a business owner. My undergraduate decree is from the Carlson School of Managment. I have owned my own business, currently with 7 employees, since 1993. I have been actively involved with the National Association of Women Business Owners, and have received several awards from them through the years. If your case may have unusual financial issues, whether due to self employment or other reasons, I'm your gal! I was chosen by members of the judiciary to serve as a FENE (Financial Early Neutral Evaluation) evaluator for Ramsey and Hennepin Counties. Courts refer cases to us, to give nonbinding opinions to the parties, to assist the parties and their attorneys in resolving their cases.
We have officies conveniently located in Woodbury (technically Lake Elmo) and Edina. I would welcome the opportunity to work with you on your case.
Professional Activities
Financial Early Neutral Evaluatoin (FENE) Committee member for Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. FENE evaluators are a committee of attorneys and CPAs chosen by judges to give early non binding opinions in cases, and help couples resolve their cases. ~Ethics Investigator for the Fourth Judicial District Ethics Committee (investigate complaints to the Lawyer's Board regarding attorney conduct). ~Voted a Super Lawyer 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2014 ~Board of Directors, National Association of Women Buseinss Owners, Mastermind Chair ~Board of Directors, North Hennepin Mediation Program, now known as Community Mediation Program ~Seminar Presenter and Law Clinic Volunteer for Tubman ~Law Clinic Volunteer for the former Resource Center for Dads in Washington County ~Hennepin County Conciliation Court Judge ~Hennepin County Family Court Referee for the Hennepin County Settlement Arbitration Program ~Wise Woman Award Recipient, National Association of Women Business Owners 2008 ~Young Woman Business Owner of the Year, Minnesota Chapter of NAWBO, 2003 ~Voted a Rising Star'' by Minnesota Law & Politics, for several years ~Hennepin, Washington, and Minnesota Bar AssociationsUndergraduate Education
The joke about attorneys and judges is that we can't do math, or dislike math, so we went to law school. Not me! I started out undergradutate stuidies in a special honors program at the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota, with an engineering focus. I admit I was pretty borded by the time I finished calc II, and transferred to the Carlson School of Managment at the University of Minnesota. I graduated with honors. I find my business training particularly helpful in analyzing issues related to divorce such as business vlauation, or determining the income of self-employed individuals, as well as other financial issues such as hidden tax consequences of different investments or settlement choices. I'm a bit of a math and tax geek. IRC 72 T (2) c just rolls off my tongue far too easily (it's a portion of the Internal Revenue Code about avoiding the 10% penalty while transferring and liquidating certain types of retirement assets!)
Postgraduate Education
I attended the University of Minnesota Law School. I graduated with honors in 1992. Law school is just the foundation of practicing family law though. My practice has been limited to family law since 1993, so I handle many more family law cases per year than many attorneys. While I believe collaborative law is the superior method for family law cases, I do litigate when that is not an option, and I also guide my clients through mediation. My multi-faceted family law experience is a valuable resource to clients navigating the process, wehtehr collaboratively or otherwise.
Professional Education
I included information about law school above. The most important aspect of my professional education is my ongoing education through representing parties in complicated family law matters, whether their case has unique parenting time issues, or financial issues. I work with very experienced mental health professionals, and financial professionals, and learn from them all the time. I was chosen to be an evaluator for the FENE program (Financial Early Neutral Evaluation) to assist families in settling their cases. There are only a handful of evaluators in each county, and I believe we were chosen not only for our experience in family law, but our ability to fairly and reasonably resolve cases. Professional education is never complete, and the best lessons to be learned are not necessarily in a classroom, but in the applied setting of helping families determine the best solutions for their situation.
Comments
I have been a member of the Collaborative Law Institute since 1998. The Institute has four committees. I was the former chair of its Membership Committee. I was also a member of the Strategic Planning Committee that developed the Institute's current Strategic Plan. That's all rather boring though, if you're not a member of the Institute! What's important to potential clients is that I am really committed to helping clients use the collaborative process whenever possible. There's a lot of newcomers to collaborative law, which is really exciting. Yet, experience in using the collaborative model is exceptionally helpful to obtaining great results for clients. I've got a solid, demonstrated track record of getting cases done quickly and fairly. I look forward to the chance to work with you!