Why a California Attorney Says TalkingParents Helps with Divorce Cases
Padideh Jafari is the founder and CEO of Jafari Law & Mediation Office, APC with offices in Los Angeles and Orange County. For the past 22 years, Jafari has represented clients with complex family law issues, including business valuation, cash-flow analysis, high-asset property division totaling hundreds of millions, and high stakes custody litigation.
- 3 min read
Court and communication
Jafari says TalkingParents is frequently ordered by judges in Los Angeles and Orange County, especially in high conflict cases.
“TalkingParents really brings the pressure and anxiety down, so I use it all the time with my clients. I remember starting my practice 22 years ago when we didn’t have the app and how difficult it was. It’s such a great service, not just for the clients but their attorneys and the judges too.”
She has also used TalkingParents with parents who get along well.
“I use it in my mediation cases sometimes, especially in the beginning, because it’s not like these parents come through the door holding hands. They’re still going through a divorce. Once they start using TalkingParents, they really like it, and oftentimes, they’ll ask if they can continue using it after mediation and the final judgement is over. And that’s a yes, of course.”
Jafari says she incorporates TalkingParents into agreements between parties on a regular basis.
“Whether the judge orders TalkingParents or the parents agree to use it, we make sure it’s written into a stipulation and order. A stipulation is where both parties agree and then the order is where the judge actually signs it. Oftentimes, we’ll also stipulate that both parents need to continue using TalkingParents unless they both agree to terminate it in writing.”
Records
Jafari mostly has experience with TalkingParents’ Records in her domestic violence cases.
If there’s still a custody situation going on in a domestic violence situation and the parties aren’t supposed to be talking, sometimes I’ll ask the judge if it’s appropriate to have them use TalkingParents strictly for peaceful, documented contact. I have seen Records be very useful in cases like this.
She also says Records are easy to use in court.
“You have to tell opposing counsel that you’re going to use a TalkingParents Record as evidence and show the other side what your evidence is. You’ll download the Record showing both sides of the conversation, and it’s very easy to use the PDF version to send to opposing counsel.”
Jafari has never objected to the use of a TalkingParents Record as evidence and says she’s never witnessed anyone else object to one either.
Benefits & advice
Jafari says TalkingParents makes the job of a high conflict divorce attorney easier.
“Our clients can just screenshot a message and send it to us, and we can help advise them on how to respond. And all that communication will be recorded for use later. It makes the clients’ lives easier too. Keeping all their communication on the app definitely reduces conflict.”
A helpful tip that Jafari often gives to clients when they start interacting through TalkingParents is to utilize a communication framework.
“I tell them to use the Yellow Rock method, which keeps communication very child-focused and aims to deescalate situations. I give my clients examples of what to send and how to send it to help them communicate in the healthiest way possible. When you have two very emotional clients just after divorce, none of this is simple. So, having the app and some communication guidelines in place forces both parents to be civil with one another.”
Jafari’s main advice to other attorneys is to stay on top of the evidence.
“The great thing about TalkingParents is that you can go all the way back to the first conversation the parents had on the app because sometimes these cases are two, two-and-a-half years long in family law and divorce. After that, everything my client sends me from the app is saved to one folder so that all their information and communication is easy to find later on.”