Some believe a bias exists in settlement and custody battles
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It took seven years for Don Morchesky to get a divorce. The conflict between husband and wife became so volatile during the marital separation that in 2013 it led to a house that they both owned burning down.
Their divorce dragged on because of a criminal investigation that led to his ex-wife pleading guilty to arson and being sentenced to three years’ probation in Westmoreland County.
When he got word this summer that his divorce was final, Mr. Morchesky said all he felt was numbness.
“It was so long and so late, it wasn’t even relief,” said the 53year-old engineer.
The couple started their road to divorce in 2010 when she moved out of their Greensburg home and served him with papers seeking spousal support. He needed a lawyer, and he liked the idea that the attorneys at Cordell & Cordell specialized in representing men.
“There’s two sides to every story,” he said. “And you would think that if somebody picks just one side and specializes in that side, they gain experience and knowledge from that one side. They know what has worked in the past and what hasn’t.”
Just as clients can pick any law firm they prefer to hire, a law firm also can pick and choose which clients it prefers to represent.
Several law firms across the country have decided to advocate for men’s and father’s rights in the family court system because of what they call a bias that exists toward mothers being granted custody of children and other types of treatment in divorce proceedings.
The Firm For Men advertises itself as the only family law firm in Virginia that does not represent women. The Mark Werner Law Firm only represents men and fathers in the Phoenix area. Laura Dale & Associates caters to affluent men in the Houston area who are concerned about losing half their business in a divorce.
Cordell & Cordell, which has 12 attorneys in Pittsburgh but is based in St. Louis, stands out as the nation’s largest national law firm that focuses on representing men in family court. The firm has roughly 250 attorneys in 100 offices across the U.S. and London.
Yet the firm does not turn down female clients.
“Most of our clients are men. I would say 90 percent of them are,” said Courtney Knox, a regional partner who has managed the firm’s Pittsburgh office for nine years.
“We usually get women clients for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they are direct referrals from our current clients. Sometimes they are direct referrals to our attorneys. Sometimes