I would highly recommend Kales & Kales to any couples going through a divorce and wanting to keep things as civil and amicable as possible. We chose to work with Jonathan and Amy to save on the financial aspect of battling lawyers and to come to fair and equal agreements and decisions together with regards to our children and our assets after 20 years of marriage. They were very professional and responsive to our needs. They provided guidance and made this extremely painful process just a little bit easier. The collaborative approach worked for us and Jonathan and Amy made is as stress free as possible! read more

I found Jonathan Kales through a referral on a web site for collaborative attorneys after my ex and I decided to try the collaborative process. Agreeing to get divorced was tough, but from our first meeting, Jonathan made it clear how the process works, what I should expect to hear, what it would cost, and all the lawyerly business involved. But he also let me know that it was OK to feel, whether that was bad, sad, or mad, it was OK to feel something. Throughout the process, he gave me excellent counsel, both professionally and personally, which lowered my stress overall. It was clear that he was paying attention during the collaborative meetings, jumping in several times to keep her attorney from walking all over me, and protecting my interests from my own desire to simply get it over with. He helped me with a referral to an estate planning attorney who worked out well too. I am grateful for his help and caring manner. I hope that I never need a divorce attorney again, or that any friends need to ask who I used, but if they do, I can whole-heartedly recommended Jonathan Kales. read more

Here are some hard-learned lessons. Please read to the end. My experience is there are three levels of divorce proceedings. In order of cost they are negotiated, collaborated, and litigated. I experienced collaborated with Jonathan Kales representing me and another attorney representing my wife. Because of emotional trauma, two "life coaches" were recommended and a financial consultant was also involved. Life coaches are Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW) who appreciate the business opportunity as there is no health insurance to bill and they can charge more than the typical LCSW rate in the DC area. For me, this process involved five people who attended all collaboration sessions, reviewed all meeting notes, and read many emails generated by any of the seven people involved. The "rules" are all communication is shared among the group. Everyone got to bill for any communications. Billing for emails is a license to print money. In the case of Mr. Kales, the minimum charge for any email read assumed 10 minutes regardless of length. That's $37.50 at the Kales hourly rate. My observation after numerous group sessions was neither Mr. Kales nor my wife's attorney demonstrated any interest in moving the process along. Fee for Service provides no incentive to be efficient. The more "service" the more fee. Except there was little service. After numerous group sessions I terminated the arrangement. My experience is you can expect a negotiated divorce (the couple and one attorney) will cost $3,000-$5000. At $30,000, I terminated the Kales collaboration because there was no end in sight. After a few months and multiple sessions, I asked how much this might cost before we experienced any meaningful progress and got crickets from all five in the room. My estimate is it would have cost $60,000 to $75,000. Litigation cost is too situationally dependent, but should be avoided at all cost, no pun intended. A necessary assumption for any negotiated or collaborated divorce is the couple can communicate and cooperate without being destructive. They simply must share the twin goal of fair distribution of assets and a rapid resolution of the marriage. My belief is if you are collaborating you should be negotiating. Attorneys that advertise negotiated divorce are actually trained in it. I'm not sure there is a training requirement to advertise for collaboration. A negotiated divorce proceeding is held in the attorney's law office and uses a checklist to address alimony, assets, liabilities, life insurance, health care, etc. The attorney guides you through the process. I had no checklist with Mr. Kales and there was no way to measure progress except by the number of sessions and the number of times I had to write retainer checks. Here is the bottom-line folks: You need legal assistance to end your marriage. If you are not contentious, seek an attorney trained in the negotiated divorce process. There are lots of them in the DC area. Collaboration is unnecessarily expensive but may be worth it to you if you have a lot of assets and want the comfort of having your own attorney. When doing negotiated divorce, you share the legal advice. Jonathan Kales was not impressive as my attorney for collaboration. read more

I would highly recommend hiring Kales & Kales! I acquired their services for an uncontested divorce. They were incredibly professional, knowledgeable, and responsive to any inquiries. read more

Working with Jonathan and Amy made a difficult time seem easier. Their knowledge of divorce and family law provided a solid foundation for me to obtain my divorce in a timely manner while protecting the rights of my disabled son. They listed to my questions and provided helpful guidance along the way. They were always responsive and professional. I highly recommend reaching out to them for a consultation. read more

This firm could not make it easier to get divorced. I didn't even have to go to court. Nobody wants to go through a divorce and is a very stressful time. Kales & Kales made it as stress free as possible. Thank you. I highly recommend them. read more

Divorce is hard for so many reasons, but my experience with Kales & Kales was not one of them. They are professional and very responsive, answering questions within a few minutes even if it was outside of work hours, and the entire process for my uncontested divorce took just under 3 months. I live out of state and was very impressed with how seamless the process was. I never visited their office or went to court; they handled everything on my behalf. They were also one of the least expensive firms on my short list. I cannot thank them enough for helping me get my life (and my last name) back. read more

It was a pleasure to work with the entire staff at Kales & Kales. Everyone is very responsive and professional. I would highly encourage anyone needing their servcies to contact this firm. read more

I found Jonathan to be knowledgeable, experienced, sensitive, professional, and thorough in his work on my divorce. Recommended by a mediator, he was easy to begin working with. He was able to understand my individual situation, listening to what I said and tailoring our discussions accordingly. Compared to some divorce cases, mine was small, but Jonathan made me feel as if I was as important as any of his clients. I felt very "taken care of" during the whole process. I highly recommend him. read more

When I started thinking about getting a divorce I had no clue where to turn. But was very pleased to have heard about the "Collaborative" process and even happier to have found Jonathan Kales. Jonathan is very hands on and won't tell you "what you want to hear" he will tell you the truth and help you understand how best to get through the process and in the end still feel whole. Jonathan has a very calm demeanor yet don't let that fool you into thinking he won't fight for you and your best interests. He very smart and knows the Law, will get to know you and your case, and will provide sound advice and solutions, as well as talk you off "the ledge" if needed. He's a calming factor in an otherwise stressful environment. I think the one thing I truly felt about Jonathan is that he cared about me. I didn't just feel like a client. He's a very compassionate person and doesn't fit the "stereotype" people may have about lawyers. I would highly recommend the Collaborative process and even more, Jonathan Kales and his team. Our process required more face to face meeting with my ex and her attorney, in comparison to some other reviews here. Each case is different and Jonathan doesn't work only one style that works best for him, he meets the needs of his clients. Jonathan even helped my ex with attorney recommendations when her first attorney didn't work out. That is another benefit to the Collaborative process. These attorneys are trained to work together for your best interest...to make the best of a tough situation. If you are considering a divorce or have already started the process I can tell you with great confidence, Jonathan would be the first person you should call. Divorce is not easy and is hard on everyone involved, but Jonathan helped make this much easier for me to function because I knew I had him in my corner. He will work hard for you, make you feel like you are his only client and in the end, help you move forward with your life. read more

It was a great experience working with Jonathan. He helped the two of us get through something difficult. He was organized and matter of fact. I would recommend his services to others and have already done so. read more

About 7 months ago I started the process of divorcing from my former spouse. As you can imagine it was an extremely stressful time. I had a lot of arrangements to make and it all had to happen so fast. I started looking online for a lawyer and came across information on Kales & Kales. I also read the yelp reviews and was impressed. I did not want to deal with a lawyer that was not responsive or worked slowly. This was unfortunately my second divorce so I was a little familiar with the process. Me and my spouse had agreed to an uncontested divorce. I contacted these guys and Amy was quick to respond with all the information I needed. I dropped off the initial pacakge and check and the process moved very quickly. I cant say enough good things about these guys. Amy was quick to answer all my emails and was very very helpful. I felt like I was talking with an old friend. Six months later my divorce was finalized. They have a convinently located office in fairfax and it was very easy to drop off various forms with the receptionist. Before I started the process, someone tried to tell me to do this online on my own. I was not willing to take the risk of taking this task on myself and making a mistake. I highly suggest to anyone to avoid taking on this task by yourself and hire these guys. They made my process easy and it was well worth the money. I highly recommend these guys. read more