Kathleen M. Newman + Associates Kathy Newman If you care about your family, do not hire this "family" law attorney! Minneapolis, Minnesota

Kathleen Newman claims to be a family law attorney, but I can't imagine anyone who is more ANTI-family. She is the most disrespectful, hateful and unprofessional legal counsel I can ever imagine dealing with. Instead of providing clear, calm counsel to help her clients discern their options through one of the most difficult times in their lives, she manipulates them, takes advantage of their vulnerability, and finds ways to exacerbate the conflict between two marital partners.

In addition, she seems to know little about what is in "the best interest of the children" during a divorce. In fact, she employs hurtful tactics that use the children as weapons between the two parties. For instance, she will insist that the parents allow the court to appoint a therapist for their children, even though Newman knows nothing about whether or not the children even need therapy, and if they do, what kind of therapist would actually be a good fit for them. I believe Newman does this, not because she cares a hoot about the wellbeing of the children, but because she is trying to secure another lucrative contract for a therapist whom she knows will reward her with a mental-health analysis favorable to her side during a custody grab. (I could be wrong here, but I doubt it.)

Newman is sloppy in her appearance (her website head shot must have been taken 30 years ago because it is not what she looks like now) and her work. For example, she sends emails to the wrong email address and accidentally copies the opposing party on emails intended for her client. She also misrepresents or distorts conversations she's had with opposing counsel to, no doubt, fan the flames of acrimony between the two sides.

Newman is a tenacious letter writer, finding any excuse to generate a 4 or 5-page inflammatory missive replete with false accusations about the opposing party, including her own attempts at psychiatric diagnoses, even though she is certainly not a psychiatrist. Of course, this creates more billable hours for her, but it also causes the opposing counsel to spend billable hours to counter her inflammatory claims. This is to the detriment of the couple, who are now paying double legal fees to deal with these letters, and only benefits both sets of attorneys.

If you are in need of a true "family" law advocate, I would advise you to steer clear of Kathy Newman. Oh, and if you'd like to go a little deeper into her background, Google "Kathy Newman" and "Larkin Hoffman" and "Taunton lawsuit."