Karyn Youso
Brookfield, Wisconsin 53005
United States
Profession(s)
Lawyer, Attorney, MediatorI help families plan for and practice low-conflict divorce.
It is always a lot more difficult to get divorced than to get married. Divorce can be complicated by feelings of anger, failure, resentment, and guilt. All those emotions converge during the divorce process, leading otherwise reasonable people to act unreasonably.
My job as attorney, mediator or coach, is to help parties facing difficult times make informed and reasonable choices. I promote cooperation between uncooperative spouses, encourage communication in non-communicative families, and above all else work to preserve the well-being of children whose parents are divorcing.
Professional Activities
Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin -- Marketing Chair (2005, 2006) ~International Academy of Collaborative Professionals -- Public Education Committee (2009)Undergraduate Education
University of Pennsylvania (BA 1989)
Professional Education
Washington University School of Law (in St. Louis) (JD 1992)
Comments
My practice emphasizes mediation and collaborative practice, with a substantive specialty in the issues of domestic abuse, substance abuse, and mental illness. The practice of Collaborative Divorce enables me to balance the aggressive energy needed to handle those type of cases with a more creative and cooperative outlook, benefitting my clients both emotionally and economically. In many cases I am not advocate attorney, but the strategist/coach for the one or both parties who need help navigating the legal process. In every case involving children, I believe the children's needs must come first. The interdisciplinary approach of Collaborative Divorce -- including the crucial involvement of mental health professionals -- enables the parties to re-focus their priorities on their children, so that this important goal is not lost, as it sometimes is in the adversarial process. The team approach is also helpful in mediation, using important resources to guide couples toward informed outcomes.