Twin Cities Family Law Attorney
Michael C. Black

Call (651) 222-2587

I'm attorney Michael C. Black, and I have been practicing law in the Twin Cities since 1978. The foundation of my practice has always been the quality relationships I maintain with my clients.

I treat my clients with respect and work hard to help them achieve their objectives. I also adopt cost-effective strategies such as mediation and arbitration when possible.

I have represented clients at every level of the Minnesota court system and have appeared in courts in all of the metropolitan counties and most of greater Minnesota. I assist clients with a wide range of legal needs. If I cannot handle your legal matter, I will refer you to a lawyer who is qualified to assist you.

Contact my St. Paul law office to speak with me personally or to schedule a consultation.

Minnesota Family Law and Divorce

The largest part of my law practice is focused on family law, including an increasing amount of mediation and ADR methods for reaching child custody agreements. I have a solid reputation in this area. As such, most of my business comes from referrals from satisfied clients. I assist men and women clients with:

• Legal separation and divorce in court or through mediation
• Child custody and parenting time disputes, including the use of mediation and other ADR methods
• Child support and child support order modification
• Contempt of court cases for nonpayment of child support and defense of those with child support arrearages
• Marital property division
• Spousal maintenance (alimony)
• Domestic abuse proceedings and orders for protection
• Post-decree litigation
• Paternity actions
• Prenuptial agreements
• Step-parent adoption

Alternative Dispute Resolution

For clients seeking an alternative to court, I can assist with a number of alternative dispute resolution methods. In divorce and child custody cases, I often serve as a mediator, a parenting consultant, or a parenting time expediter. For business transactions, real estate disputes, and some family law disputes, when the parties agree to use my services, I fulfill the role of a neutral third party arbitrator in binding arbitration.

I am fully qualified as a mediator and arbitrator under Rule 114. I am a member of Conflict Resolution Minnesota, a professional association of arbitrator and mediators and serve on the board of directors for this group.

Residential and Commercial Real Estate: I have extensive experience assisting buyers and sellers of real estate by preparing purchase agreements, resolving title issues, handling partition actions, and conducting closings. I also assist people in resolving disputes, including landlord-tenant disputes.

Minnesota Wills and Probate: I prepare wills, living wills, powers of attorney, medical directives, and other estate planning documents as well as assist clients responsible for probating an estate in Minnesota.

Business Transactions: I have significant experience representing buyers and sellers of small businesses, from businesses valued at less than $100,000 to business transactions involving several million dollars. My services include the analysis of the transaction, preparation of purchases agreements and supporting documents, and closings. I accept business litigation cases involving shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, employment contract disputes, breach of contract cases, and fraud.

Contact Me

Although I invite e-mails, I find that there is no substitute for a telephone conversation with a prospective client. Within a few minutes, I can usually obtain enough information about the case to make a preliminary analysis. I can often give a prospective client some guidance on how to approach the problem, whether I can handle it for them, and whether a face-to-face meeting would be helpful.

Your call is important to me. It is my policy to return calls and emails within 24 hours.