Mediation – The Gift that Keeps on Giving1 min read

It is often said that the dominant culture of divorce is an adversarial one. A culture where winning and losing is the name of the game and that divorce is war. Family attorneys most often identify with the litigation community. If family litigation is the prevailing divorce culture then the family mediation community is a counter culture. The way one identifies with a community or culture is to look at the following factors: 1) How do the members of the culture or community behave; 2) What do its members believe, and 3) To what organizations do they belong? The members of the Family Mediation Community behave in a manner that fosters consensual and amicable decision making. They act in ways that encourage problem solving, and…

Several years ago, I was at a workshop presented by Bill Eddy, Esq., LCSW when he talked about a simple technique that can be used in mediation to shift people out of blame and intensity into a calmer, problem-solving mode. The technique is called “So What’s Your Proposal.” Here is how it works. When you find that one party to a dispute is blaming the other party, complaining unceasingly about a current situation, or only has negative, unproductive things to say about a current issue, the complaining party is asked to make a proposal that they think will resolve the dispute or solve their current complaint. Proposals should include WHO will do WHAT, WHEN, and WHERE. The other party is then encouraged to ask questions…

Breer Law Offices has been providing flat fee divorce mediation services for over 25 years. Our flat fee 5-Step Divorce Mediation Program provides not only the certainty of the costs of the mediation process, but also offers a “one stop shop” for all the services related to negotiating settlements and filing the divorce paperwork with the court. Our clients never see the inside of the courthouse and make their own decisions regarding parenting their children, determining the amount of child and spousal support, and how they will divide their marital property. Our Flat Fees include 3 to 5 mediation sessions and all the paperwork necessary to complete the divorce process. Over 90% of our clients will sign their divorce settlement at their last session. When…

Many divorce litigation attorneys are highly skilled and knowledgeable about family law and may be Certified Family Law Specialists. Litigation attorneys often reassure their clients that they will fight for them and secure all they are entitled to in the divorce. A spouse going through a divorce will often find that their litigation attorney is comforting, caring, and understanding, but litigation attorneys like the great boxing champion, Mohammed Ali, are trained to fight. They may look like butterflies, but they can sting like bees. Attorneys are first trained to fight in law school, where they learn how to persuade, negotiate, apply pressure, and use the strength of the law to convince a Judge to make a ruling in their client’s favor. Their law professors teach…