Marina S Barannik

The end of a marriage can confront divorcing spouses with new and unfamiliar roles such as taking control over family finances or getting involved in day to day tasks of child rearing. Educating clients on facing these new roles as they are undergoing a major crisis in their lives is a particular strength of Marina’s. She serves a wide range of clients, from stay-at-home spouses who must suddenly learn to become financially savvy, to accomplished career executives about to assume a greater share of parental responsibilities, to many international clients who face additional challenges of going through divorce in a foreign country. Always emphasizing the importance of family, Marina guides clients through difficult family transitions in a thoughtful, calm and civil way. Marina also specializes in drafting and negotiating complex prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and helps her clients to focus on creating a solid foundation for a successful marriage during what often becomes a sensitive and emotionally difficult negotiation.

Marina excels in dealing with the complexity of divorce among the international community, especially the cross-jurisdictional and cross-cultural issues of family law. Parlaying both her international experience and her academic knowledge, she is able to understand the interplay between cultural differences and nuances of family law that other lawyers without her background may not notice. The daughter of a diplomat, Marina spent her childhood in the United States before returning to her native Russia, where she eventually earned a Ph.D. in political science and U.S. foreign policy. Marina’s languages include Russian and French.

Marina believes that family lawyers have a profound responsibility to preserve rather than destroy family relationships which are especially fragile during divorce. Known for her logic and compassion, Marina seeks to understand the priorities, fears and needs of both sides in order to achieve positive results for her clients through negotiation, collaborative law, mediation and litigation, when necessary.

Outside of her practice, Marina enjoys spending time with her family and has a passion for international travel, architecture and music.