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Email: lisrael@ivkdlaw.com
Practice Areas: Collaborative Divorce, Collaborative Law, Divorce Mediation, Divorce Marital Mediation (Mediation to Stay Married), Estate Planning and Administration, Probate of Estates, Divorce Law, Tax Law, Bankruptcy, Prenuptial Agreements, Postnuptial Agreements, Real Estate.
LAURIE ISRAEL began her practice of law in 1987 as a tax lawyer in the Boston firm Foley, Hoag and Eliot (now Foley Hoag). In January, 1991, she commenced her independent practice in Coolidge Corner as the Law Offices of Laurie Israel. She and her partners Karen Van Kooy and Laura Days have now reorganized as Israel, Van Kooy & Days, LLC. Heather Hoffman has been of counsel attorney with the firm since 1998.
LAURIE ISRAEL focuses her practice on family law and estate planning and administration. She is an original member of Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council and is a former member of its Board of Directors. Laurie actively works in the fields of Collaborative Divorce and Collaborative Practice. She has been practicing collaborative divorce for 11 years. She feels it is especially recommended for complex divorces where couples have been married for many years. Laurie also spends much of her working hours in divorce mediation, working with clients as the mediator, and also serving as reviewing attorney for mediations conducted by other mediators.
LAURIE is an active member of the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, and a former board member of the organization. She requently writes for the quarterly journal of the MCFM. LAURIE was the writer of the new MCFM website, www.mcfm.org.
LAURIE is one of the pioneers in Marital Mediation (also known as Mediation to Stay Married and Marriage Mediation). She has taught mediators how to do this work throughout the couuntry. Her interest in marital mediation came as a natural corollary to the divorce work Laurie has been doing. She asked herself, “What could I have done as a lawyer-mediator if I could have worked with the divorcing couple a year or two before the couples decided on divorce and met with divorce attorneys …?” People who wish to stay in their marriages but are having significant problems have started to meet with her both as couples in mediation, and as individuals. These people are working to try to get their marriages back on track. Read what Laurie has to say about Marital Mediation on the Articles page.
As regular parts of her practice, LAURIE drafts and negotiates Prenuptial Agreements and Postnuptial Agreements. She believes that these are agreements that must be carefully drawn and considered with much thought, as they affect one of the major underpinnings (financial) of a very important relationship — marriage. When done without sufficient thought and sensitivity, they can work to hurt a marriage.
LAURIE started her career as a tax lawyer at Foley, Hoag and Eliot, in Boston. She spends a significant portion of her time at work doing estate plans (simple and complex), including trusts. She also handles the probates of decedents’ estates. She finds this work a very fulfilling part of her practice.
Laurie’s articles on various topics appear in the Huffington Post, the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation Quarterly, Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council Journal, Lawyers Weekly, International Association of Collaborative Professional Collaborative Review, mediate.com, lifetwo.com and can be found on the Articles page of this website.
Laurie has presented on various topics at conferences throughout the United States. Her topics are Marital Mediation, Mediating Pre Nuptial Agreements and Mediating Alimony issues. Among her venues were presentations at the Family Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution, the annual Association for Conflict Resolution Conference and the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation.
Laurie graduated from Barnard College in 1967 cum laude, and from The Dickinson School of Law (now part of Pennsylvania State University) magna cum laude in 1987. She was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1946.
She is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, New England Association for Conflict Resolution, Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council, Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, and the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
Laurie’s outside interests include reading, art, and music.
Others in Israel, Van Kooy & Days, LLC.
KAREN VAN KOOY joined the Law Offices of Laurie Israel in October, 2007 to practice in the area of Domestic Relations, and now is a member/partner of the new firm. .
LAURA DAYS has been a full-time associate since she joined the firm in 2005, and works in the fields of real estate, estate planning, tax and probate of estates. She is now a member/partner of the new firm.
HEATHER HOFFMAN is an of-counsel attorney since 1998. She concentrates her practice on title work and real estate matters, and provides ongoing advice on all legal topics to assist the firm. Heather employs her husband, MARK JAQUITH, to assist her as a title examiner. As part of the real estate practice in our firm, we are engaged in doing real estate titles, real estate conveyancing, and purchase and sale agreements.
VICTORIA ELLSWORTH, a recent addition to the firm since 2007, is a certified paralegal. In addition, Tori has significant business experience, which is extremely helpful to the firm in its marketing and administrative functions. She is the law firm administrator.
PHILIPPINA LOH is the firm’s diligent and accurate secretary/bookkeeper and has been a wonderful presence in the firm since 2001.
ELAINE SIDNEY provides off-site administration, office space consulting, and storage file control to the law firm. She has been associated with the firm since 1998.
Although he is not officially part of the firm, MARK ANDERSON, of Tapestry Data Systems has been providing capable computer support for all of us since 1999. He has built most of our computers, and has consulted in other computer and peripheral purchases, and capably and quickly assists us when we’re having computer problems.
MARVIN KANE, of Kaneworks, is a new vendor for our firm. He created this web site and our Mediation to Stay Married web site.
He is serving as our webmaster.
PEG O’ CONNELL, of Peg O?Connell and Associates, an independent contractor, provides bookkeeping and accounting services for our firm and probate accounting for our clients.
We are all very fortunate to have a stable firm with people who each provide significant contributions to the firm. We work hard, but also enjoy extremely harmonious work relationships with mutual respect and appreciation for each other’s efforts.