There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal last week touting the benefits of mediation and other collaborative methods of resolution of divorce and family issues over court litigation. Here is the link to the article here.
The article highlights the lasting negative effects on children from a bitter divorce as at least one reason to keep the divorce out of court. The Wall Street Journal also sets forth some numbers that divorce attorneys and mediators know very well and that couples going through a divorce discover all too soon: The average mediated divorce costs less than $7,000 and the average collaborative divorce costs less than $20,000, while the average litigated case costs $78,000!! And that last figure is most likely a national figure since fully litigated cases in California (with battling experts, etc.) will run more like $100,000 to $150,000.
This explains why one of my favorite mediators (Rodney Johnson in Marin County) asks couples debating between divorce mediation/collaborative law or traditional representation by battling attorneys what they want to pay for - his children's college education or their own children's college education. The choice is yours.
2 comments:
I agree that the finacial benefits are well worth the consideration, but just the process of mediation where both parties get to voice their side of the case and can jointly work to a resolution results in each party being able to quickly deal with the issues and move forward with their respective lives.
Jean Smith
Conflict Resolution Researcher
I'm sure we've all had those employment horror stories, the bosses from the fiery pits of hell, themselves. But not everyone's figured out how to keep out of future occurrences of this situation. A lot of people get angry, do something stupid and ultimately lose their job, either through quitting or getting fired. What a lot of people don't know is that there's an easy way to remedy most problems you have with your boss or management.
Post a Comment