A few years ago, it appeared that collaborative divorce, and its cousin, cooperative divorce, would be the "new thing," revolutionizing the practice of divorce in Wisconsin.

There's an old joke about a husband not wanting to pay his wife any maintenance. The judge, after hearing the evidence, finds she is entitled to support and says, "I'm going to give her $1,000 per month." The husband responds, "Damn nice of you, judge. I'll kick in a couple hundred bucks of my own."

It's no secret that people post incriminating information on Facebook.

The idea of charging a flat rate for divorces may sound absurd to most family law attorneys, but the concept is starting to take hold in Wisconsin.

I had a very nice lunch recently with a judge who handles a family court calendar, swapping war stories and such.