siness
Thinking Of Splitting?
IJARit Superhighway First
111) essa Stone Rosman was
deeply impressed by attor-
ney Henry Gornbein when
he mediated her divorce
last year.
As a psychotherapist, she
had seen again and again the
emotional wreckage divorce leaves
in its path. As a wife and mother
on the verge of a radical life change,
she experienced it firsthand.
Mr. Gornbein seemed to have
the insight and the sensitivity she
knew was paramount during what
is generally a traumatic time for
most people.
Today, the two are business
partners.
Henry Gornbein and Dessa Stone Rosman at the controls.
The idea was hatched over trying to do is convert what is typ-
lunch. Mr. Gornbein, a partner in ically adversarial into an experi-
the Troy law firm of Bookholder, ence where people can make
Bassett, Gornbein, Solomon & Co- decisions in a well-informed way,
hen, P.L.L.C., told Ms. Rosman he especially people with children. Di-
had test-marketed an 800 tele- vorce has the potential to be non-
phone number that would provide adversarial."
generic advice to people seeking di-
A lot of attorneys, Mr. Gornbein
vorce. It would fulfill his vision of said, tend to see the divorce process
a "multi-disciplinary" approach to as a competition between spouses,
separation, where a team of ther- advising clients right off to "file
apists, attorneys and financial first." Their approach, on the oth-
planners would promote commu- er hand, encourages people to ex-
nication between spouses and chil- plore options to revive a marriage
dren rather than merely gone sour.
shepherding them through the
As a tireless traveler on the in-
trauma.
formation superhighway — more
Ms. Rosman, whose offices are like the Autobahn in his case —
in Birmingham, told him Mr. Thawley said he hasn't en-
she thought the telephone countered anything like Divorce
idea was "tacky." She had a Online on the Internet. He said 30
better one: Her friend, John million people have access to the
Thawley of Creative Com- Internet and believes there are
munications Group in Roy- about 11 million Web sites.
al Oak, could help them
Since the three put the Ameri-
create an electronic site on can Divorce Information Network
the Internet that would online two months ago, they've
reach a much broader au- tracked about 1,500 visitors each
dience.
week from as far away as England
Mr. Thawley, whom Mr. and Hawaii. Some have asked
Gornbein calls a "creative questions via e-mail, like a gentle-
genius," set up the graphi- man who called himself "Sleepless
cally sophisticated and in San Diego."
user-friendly American Di-
Mr. Gornbein, a practicing
vorce Information Network lawyer for 28 years, said he
on the World Wide Web. thought it was a joke at first. It
The site, generically called seemed the husband wanted a di-
"Divorce Online," spans a vorce but didn't know whom to
huge array of divorce-relat- turn to. His wife was a prominent
ed topics and includes the divorce attorney with lots of col-
biographies of profession- leagues in the city, all of whom he
als, including attorneys, wanted to avoid. Mr. Gornbein
psychotherapists and fi- checked it out and learned the man
nancial planners, who've was in earnest. He referred him to
become "sponsors" of the an attorney in the area.
site, as well as essays on
A delighted attorney in Califor-
various topics, like child nia recently called Mr. Gornbein
custody, by national au- to gloat about three referrals she
thorities on the subjects.
got via the Divorce Online site.
Oakland Circuit Judge
The communication works the
Edward Sosnick was the other way, too. Ms. Rosman and
first contributor to a column Mr. Gornbein have made their own
called "View from the inquiries to users about the kind
Bench," which Ms. Rosman of information they would like to
and Mr. Gornbein hope will see at the site. They received 60 re-
be a staple of the site. The sponses to their survey.
World Wide Web is acces-
Every few months, the site will
sible through services like be updated with new articles and
America Online, Com- additional sponsors. The attorneys
puServe and Prodigy.
who are listed are members of the
"The best divorce is one American Academy of Matrimo-
where people are informed," nial Lawyers, and all therapists
said Ms. Rosman. "All we're and other professionals who want
to get on board must be properly
licensed.
The cost for sponsorship is more
than made up by the kind of re-
ferrals Divorce Online can gener-
ate, said Mr. Gornbein.
"We bring the traffic to them,"
said Ms. Rosman, who is working
toward a doctorate in clinical psy-
chology. She serves as the net-
work's editor.
Joining the site entitles the
member to a full-page profession-
al biography with a photograph
and a professional listing. The page
is "hyperlinked" to other pages
within Divorce Online so that users
who are in a different section of the
site can jump immediately to an
attorney's credentials and contact
information without paging
through the entire "journal."
For an individual, the cost is
$200 per month; groups of less
than five members pay $175 per
person; and groups of more than
five pay $150 per person. A one-
time setup fee is equal to the
monthly cost. In keeping with
their goal of offering a team ap-
proach to divorce, the partners
have offered free space to Haven,
a Pontiac-based shelter and advo-
cacy agency for abused women and
children.
And Ms. Rosman is working
with a teacher and student at Sea-
holm High School in Birmingham
who are developing a question-and-
answer column online for and by
teen-agers on the subject of divorce.
The partners have invested
more than $25,000 in their cyber-
venture, and they're confident re-
ferrals and membership fees will
more than cover the cost.
Mr. Thawley is the technical
mind behind the operation, trained
in neither the law nor the psyche.
But he's learned something along
the way about the often bewilder-
ing subject of divorce.
"There's a psychological barrier
to picking up the phone and call-
ing an attorney," he said. 'This is
to make sure you have the knowl-
edge — not to talk people out of di-
vorce." ❑
The American Divorce Infor-
mation Network's address is
http://www.divorce-online.corn
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