Divorce is the only area in life where personal decisions collide with the law in a public forum. Martha makes you feel confident about the process, your future, and the future of your children. At the resolution of your legal matter, you will be pleased you chose Bagley Law.
Divorce & Family Law
Bagley Law offers highly sophisticated expertise in the areas of adoption, divorce, separation, premarital agreements, paternity, custody, and support. Legal services fall on a broad spectrum, from direct negotiation to high-stakes trial advocacy. Our attorneys will evaluate your legal concerns and provide services acutely tailored to meet your needs. In all services, we offer expertise not only in family law and negotiation, but also in our analysis of the associated financial assets and consequences of financial decisions. Further, our services are buttressed by the expertise in our elite network of leading professionals, developed over generations in the legal profession and our professional association with Weston Patrick.
Mediation & Arbitration
Martha Bagley, a seasoned practitioner with significant dispute resolution experience, leads Bagley Law’s Mediation and Arbitration practice. Martha focuses this practice on family law matters and associated business disputes. Martha’s decades of experience combined with her collaborative and compassionate approach result in highly thoughtful and analytical mediation or arbitration of your legal dispute.
MEDIATION
Mediation is a non-binding process in which parties, their legal counsel, and other decision makers talk through claims with the assistance of a neutral mediator.
Arbitration
Arbitration is a process in which parties present their dispute to a neutral arbitrator who hears the case and renders a binding decision.
Driven with compassion and by results!
Attorney Bagley is one of the best lawyers in the profession. Her professional conduct, perseverance, diligence and compassion helped resolve my case. Attorney Bagley truly listened, understood the details of the case and the complexity of the case. After a bitter divorce and battling on multiple levels, we finally went to trial and her fact-finding skills and litigation skills won a 4-year battle. She was very friendly and caring about my case and understood the details, which is very critical when presenting facts and litigating in court. She worked very hard on my case and always kept me informed. She was professional, friendly and returned calls promptly. She truly wanted what was in the best interest of my family. She is my guardian angel!
I give Attorney Bagley my highest recommendation without any reservation.
Attorney Bagley was always available and very responsive. She was honest with what the expectations of a case such as mine were. I felt a sense of relief each time I met with her, especially when having to appear in court. After just one court appearance with Attorney Bagley, my case took a dramatic turn and went from going to trial to being settled in just under three months of her representation. She was very respectful of my emotions and what I needed as an outcome, while managing to keep both parties grounded and focused. I learned many life lessons from her in the short time she handled my case. She removed the anger, frustration and difficulties that are inherent with divorce/custody cases. I continue to rely on her knowledge and expertise in multiple areas of law. Attorney Bagley rises above the difficulties that the parties bring to the table and puts forth a sense of focus while being able to represent her client's best interest with expertise, poise, and compassion.
Martha is a tremendous attorney with a laser focus on what her client may need coupled with the know how to make it happen. She is terrific!!!
— Cici Van Tine, Partner at Burns & Levinson
I had the pleasure of working on an emotion packed divorce case with Attorney Bagley. She is professional in her negotiation and unafraid of confrontation. She is an excellent advocate for her clients.
— Faye Weiner-Jackson, Law Office of Weiner Jackson & Simmons, P.C.
Lead Counsel in the "Wall Street Case"
"Mother may have hired a Big Law firm, experts, and had the title of Mother, but what I had could not be bought. I had an outstanding parent who placed his children's' needs before his own and gave them a warm, loving and laughter filled home."
I have tried many cases over the course of my career, but none as heart-wrenching as the Wall Street Case. The parties, Mother and Father, divorced by Agreement in June of 2004. Their marriage had broken under the tremendous stress of infertility, two problematic births, and the responsibilities associated with caring for two children with disabilities. Mother's first pregnancy was triplets. Only one child survived and he carries the diagnosis of cerebral palsy, remaining completely dependent on the care of others. They had a second child who carries the diagnosis of autism. The Agreement set forth a shared physical custody plan, the scheduling of nannies, and the shared costs of equipment such as a handicap van to transport the children. The parties lived in the suburbs of Boston. They managed the care of the children until the Spring of 2006, when Mother moved to New York City to work on Wall Street, without notifying Father, leaving the children in the care of the nannies.
Father, my client, learned from the nanny that Mother had moved. He immediately left his house and moved into Mother’s apartment, the housing option in the children’s school district, to assume full responsibility for the children.
The parties worked out an arrangement among themselves for parenting time, but in March of 2011, Mother filed a Complaint for Modification seeking to take custody of the children and move them to New York City. She alleged, as a “change of circumstance,” better educational opportunities in New York than available in Massachusetts.
Father walked into my office, sat down with his head in his hands, and told me his story. He never once complained about his full time job caring for the boys, and instead told me about the boundless joy they bring him and his severely handicapped boy's love of Elmo. The one thing he was adamant about was maintaining physical custody of the boys. I filed a counter-claim seeking Father’s primary physical custody, and Mother's scorched earth litigation then began.
Mother's financial resources were plentiful. She hired a Big Law firm attorney and spared no expense. Mother’s counsel appointed a Guardian ad Litem, hired an education expert from New York to testify as to the superiority of the educational opportunities the City afforded, employed a strategy of “death by paper cuts” in requesting a tremendous volume of discovery paperwork, and conducted lengthy depositions two days before trial.
Despite my dedication to obtaining pre-trial settlements, there was no way to negotiate a settlement of this matter. The Judge understood this, and trial was set for December of 2011. Mother may have hired a Big Law firm, experts, and had the title of Mother, but what I had could not be bought. I had an outstanding parent who placed his children's' needs before his own and gave them a warm, loving and laughter filled home.
Mother's expert testified glowingly about the opportunities for the children in New York. My cross examination consisted of five questions, the answers to which revealed the expert's failure to contact the children's schools in order to make an educated comparison. Since he could not make the comparison, his opinion that New York was superior fell flat.
We completed the trial in two days. At the close of the evidence, the Judge commended the parties and all four attorneys for the genteel presentation of the evidence. We all took a moment, spoke of the children and looked at recent photos of them.
In the end, my client was awarded custody of the children and Mother remains a strong, caring advocate for them.