Reference no: EM133582854

Questions

Franklin is a family lawyer specializing in representing women in divorce cases. One of his clients, Sally, was married to Bruce for 14 years but decided that she and her husband had grown apart and told Bruce that she wanted a divorce. Bruce was upset but wanted to have as amicable a split as possible to make things as easy as possible for their two young children. Bruce is a partner at a large corporate law firm where he earned $1.9 million last year.

Bruce's lawyer calls Franklin and makes an offer for alimony and child support that is an understandable (if low) initial offer. Franklin is certain that it is just that - an initial offer - and that Bruce and his lawyer would be willing (and indeed are certainly expecting) to make a significantly better offer in order to reach an agreement.

Franklin has had several preliminary discussions with Sally, however, and he believes that she might take the low initial offer and not want to negotiate. The offer includes custody of the kids for Sally, which Franklin knows is her overwhelming priority. And Sally has made it clear that she feels terribly guilty about leaving Bruce and believes that he is a good person and a dedicated father and that he will always provide whatever they might need as they get older. She seems to be eager to have the divorce process complete as quickly as possible and on any terms that would be amenable to Franklin.

Would it be the appropriate for Franklin to accept the settlement offer from Bruce's lawyer?