The work started at the consultation table and ran all the way through. Document production, pretrial preparation, the courthouse, the trial table, and the judge’s chambers on the cases that went that far. High-conflict divorce and family litigation, at the top AV-rated firms in New York City, on matters that made headlines and on pro bono cases the firms took because that work mattered too. Along the way: forensic accountants helped navigate financial complexity, adversaries negotiated across conference tables, witnesses were prepared for hearings, and law school interns were trained who are now partners and sitting judges. The firms called me the grammarian. Nothing went out the door until it passed review, because the standard for legal communication inside those firms was not negotiable. A degree in psychology with a forensic emphasis, co-authorship of an unpublished manual on uncontested divorce procedure, and research that won motions round out a working picture that does not come from studying this market from the outside.