Divorce & Family

Doris Tennant is an experienced divorce attorney and a mediator certified by the Massachusetts Counsel on Family Mediation. Doris mediates and arbitrates family law matters and business disputes. She serves as a parenting coordinator in high conflict cases. She also helps facilitate temporary and permanent guardianships, represents parties in obtaining prenuptial and marital agreements, and represents parties who are in mediation. Doris specializes in Collaborative Family Law — a way to divorce that encourages the best in people who are experiencing one of the worst events in their lives.


What is Collaborative Family Law?

  • Agreement is reached through mutual problem-solving.
  • Both attorneys pledge not to go to court.
  • Emotional damage to the family is minimized.
  • Complex cases are resolved more efficiently.
  • Costs are significantly less than litigation.

How does Collaborative Family Law differ from the adversarial court process?

The Collaborative Process eliminates the economic and emotional consequences of protracted litigation. It seeks to preserve long-term interests and important relationships, and protects the privacy, dignity, and self-esteem of the participants.

How does Collaborative Family Law differ from mediation?

A mediator is a neutral who helps guide parties to an agreement but does not impose a solution. The parties may consult attorneys outside of the mediation meetings. In the Collaborative process, each party is represented by an attorney advocate throughout the process, and the attorneys commit to non-adversarial conduct.

Is Collaborative Family Law only for "easy" cases?

In Doris' years of Collaborative Family Law practice, she has represented individuals in financially complex cases where emotions are high. Her clients vary from young to elderly, middle class to wealthy, and business owners to salaried employees. They may be same sex or opposite sex partners, gender-conforming or transgender. The range of issues addressed through Collaborative Practice include asset valuation and division, alimony, child support, allocation of college costs, taxes, health and life insurance, parenting plans, business interests, and future modifications.

Are other professionals involved in Collaborative Family Law?

A neutral communication coach is an integral part of Collaborative Practice. The coach is trained to work with the parties to reduce emotional intensity and misunderstanding. This assures more efficiency in arriving at agreements, and a more peaceful transition to a new life. Other experts may be retained jointly by the parties to assist in matters such as business appraisals and tax considerations.

Click here to view Divorce and Family Resources.