Barry Finkel and Angela Neave (on right in image beneath YMCA caption) support Safe Swim.

Fort Lauderdale family law attorneys Barry Finkel and Angela Neave of B. Finkel P.A., appeared in Weston Lifestyles magazine as they took time out from the divorce and family law practice to support the YMCA of Broward County (Florida) Safe Swim Happy Hour along Las Olas Boulevard.

The event was created to support drowning awareness initiatives, which serve more than 7,000 children each year. According to the YMCA, children as young as six months of age can be taught to swim – and no child is too old to start learning.

“In South Florida, pools, lakes, canals and the ocean are fixtures on the landscape and our daily lives,” Finkel said. “It’s important that adults support these causes, and everyone takes the time to make sure children are safe in or near the water.”

“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by my peers for this award,” said Neave, an associate at The Law Firm of Barry I. Finkel P.A. [ insert link www.bfinkelpa.com ]. “Receiving such an award is never about the award itself. It’s about the work that helped me gain the recognition. That’s where my focus lies – on achieving positive outcomes for my clients.”

Neave works closely with each client. She seeks to identify and analyze the issues and strategies vital to a successful outcome. A native of Southern California, Neave graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). She earned her Juris Doctor from the Southwestern University School of Law. Neave decided to pursue the practice of law with a single goal in mind: To become a family and divorce lawyer focused on helping those facing the difficult challenges of failed marriages and a confusing legal system.

“Angela brings a special blend of empathy, understanding and cool legal thinking to every client’s situation,” said Barry Finkel, principal with the Fort Lauderdale law firm. “It’s a testament to her abilities and ongoing success that she has been recognized by those in the field and the publishers of Super Lawyers.”

At the Finkel Law Firm, Angela’s practice is predicated on the notion that the post-divorce family still must exist – despite its new form. Though custody issues are important and can be hotly contested, parents are counseled to remain mindful that they will continue to “co-parent” their children into adulthood. Both parents are encouraged to remain active and to welcome the other parent’s full participation. Both mother and father are expected to treat each other with respect during and after a divorce, especially when in the presence of children and their impressionable young minds.

From the beginning, children’s issues have been important to Angela. Since 2004, she has been involved with V-Day, a world event created to raise awareness and funds toward ending domestic violence against women and girls. She recently co-chaired for Legal Aid Service of Broward County’s For the Public Good fundraiser held. The event raised $124,000 – more than any previous year. All funds raised are earmarked for child-related cases, including school issues and foreclosures if children are involved, for example.

She also has teamed up with other Fort Lauderdale attorneys to speak for and develop a legal component for Women In Distress, a state-funded women’s shelter and rehabilitation program for victims of domestic violence and their children.

Neave was selected by Super Lawyers using a rigorous, multiphase process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with third-party research. She was evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.

In this interview with E! Online, Florida divorce and family-law attorney Barry Finkel details what Elin Nordegren’s strategy might be.

“You’re saying to Tiger’s attorneys, if we don’t get what we want, we’re going to challenge the prenup,” divorce and family-law attorney Barry Finkel tells us. “It’s business.”

As we were saying…

We asked Finkel to walk us through possible scenarios for a Woods-Nordegren divorce. Finkel practices in Florida, which is key because that’s where the Woodses had their Thanksgiving blowout, and in our book, forever established their residency. Home is, after all, where the biggest fights are.
In Florida divorces, equitable distribution rules. The concept means a couple’s stuff can be divided 50-50—unless it’s not. In other words, halvsies are not guaranteed.

Conventional wisdom says Nordegren will file in California, where the couple has a home, and where even-steven community property is the way. But Finkel reminds that the couple’s prenup might have already established that no matter where the divorce is filed, the laws of Florida (or whatever other state was agreed to) are applied.

Another item a prenup would have locked in, of course, is what it’ll cost to get out. One report, the lowball version, says Nordegren was guaranteed $20 million if the marriage lasted 10 years. Another report, the ka-ching! version, put the prenup’s worth to Nordegren at $300 million, or half of Woods’ reported $600 million fortune.

While it seems like prenups are challenged every day, they are, as a rule, upheld every day, too. According to Finkel, the only instances that’ll get a prenup tossed are if (a) the agreement is proved to have been made under duress, or (b) one party is found to have misrepresented what his superstar self was worth. As you’ll notice there is no option for (c) one party overly enjoyed the company of cocktail waitresses.

“She can’t come in and say, ‘He cheated on me; I want to challenge the prenup,’” Finkel says.

No, she can’t come into the court and say that. But her lawyers don’t have to go into court to make their client’s wishes known. Says Finkel, “They’re going to try to get her as much as they can.”

And that goes double (quadruple? quintuple?) where the couple’s two children are concerned. Finkel wouldn’t guestimate how much child support Woods might end up owing, except for saying the two words no litigant wants to hear: “a lot.”

The children, frankly, give Nordegren all sorts of leverage, and not even in an evil, you’ll-never-see-them-again way. If Nordegren pursues a custody case, then everything that couldn’t come out in a divorce trial in a no-fault state like Florida (or California)—the cheating, the cocktail waitresses, etc.—could come out in a courtroom.

All of this leaves Woods, he of the dwindling endorsements and on-hold golf career, facing a decision: “The key to this case is to not clutter the court file with evidence of their lives,” Finkel says. “There’s value in keeping this out of the public eye. Is he going to have to pay more than what’s in the prenup agreement? Probably.”

He’ll be doing business. Just like his wife.