Richard Wolman and Olive Larson
“I was at my wits’ end – I could not sleep. Our son was out of control.” One of our former divorce clients came to us with a dilemma. His teenage son was acting out in school, becoming physically and emotionally unmanageable. Our client, a well-educated professional who had remarried and was living in an affluent Boston suburb with excellent schools, was mystified. His son had begun dressing like a street-corner teen “gangsta.” The last straw came when our client’s ex-wife got a restraining order against our client, alleging that he had struck his son. “Not true,” said our client. “It was actually the other way around.”
Former BLC attorney Olive Larson handled the court case, which was quickly turned over to a guardian ad litem, selected by Olive and counsel for the ex-wife. Meanwhile, Richard Wolman began working with our client and his wife on the parenting issues that would enable them to re-assert some order and discipline in the son’s life, without driving him into deeper rebellion.
The guardian ad litem’s report vindicated our client and recommended that custody of the son be turned over to him, because of the difficulties he was experiencing living with his mother. The report also recommended that the son receive a high level of support and counseling services, which he is now receiving.
Cases of this kind do not lend themselves to easy solutions, however. Recently, the son engaged in further acting out. We continue to provide support and advice for our client and his wife from time to time, as needed.