Joe is a preeminent collaborative family lawyer who successfully settles complex divorces. He was one of the first people to advocate for the collaborative divorce process in 2001, and has since settled over 200 collaborative cases. Joe recognizes that the collaborative process provides the tools to support parties in working together for the overall benefit of their families, leads to much quicker resolution than litigation, and reduces the emotional and financial strain of divorce. Joe has been in private practice in the Los Angeles area since 1982. He formed McGaughey& Spirito in 1990. Joe is co-founder and past president of the collaborative divorce group, A Better Divorce, as well as former President and Board Member of the South Bay Bar Association. He is the current Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Family Law Section, one of the largest family law bar associations in the United States, where he continues to champion the collaborative process and promote pro-collaborative legislation. Joe has continually maintained an AV rating in the Martindale-Hubbell legal publication and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He has been selected by his peers to the Southern California Super Lawyers list (2005 to present) and The Best Lawyers in America list (2013 to present) for the practice area of Family Law.