As a mediator, I work directly with both parties to resolve matters outside of the traditional negotiation and litigation process by mediating separation, divorce, and post-divorce issues including:
Yes.
Massachusetts divorce and family law is the same throughout the Commonwealth, so I can mediate divorces and other matters from any county, and I mediate with clients on Zoom which saves travel time for busy individuals and working parents. If clients prefer to meet in person, I have office space in Wellesley and in Northampton and when mediations involve other attorneys, I can travel to their offices for mediation sessions.
No, it’s not too late.
Once lawyers are very involved and there are ongoing Court proceedings, it is usually more effective for me to serve as a mediator/conciliator and meet with both parties and their attorneys. When I serve as a mediator/conciliator, I bring years of experience as a negotiator and trial attorney and share my perspective about what results may occur in a courtroom setting. Mediation/conciliation as an intervention to get a case off the trial track and toward a full settlement is a sensible approach that will save time and money all while empowering former partners to settle their differences together. Conciliation can occur on Zoom or in person in Wellesley, Northampton, or at an attorney’s office who is representing one of the clients.
No.
Mediators are precluded from representing either mediation client as an attorney at any time. A mediator must maintain her neutrality. In the unlikely event that the mediation process is not successful, each party will need to to retain legal counsel or represent themselves in traditional negotiations and/or Court.
Mediation allows you and your partner/spouse/former partner/former spouse to resolve issues together without lawyers or Judges taking your process in different directions. Control over the timing and outcome provide my mediation clients with agency over their life decisions during divorce and other transitional events.
Many parents face challenges when making decisions about how to raise children. This can happen whether parents live together or apart. The more parents can effectively communicate about their child, the better the outcome for the child. Mediation facilitates and in some instances, teaches, effective parent communication.
I was first trained as a divorce and family law mediator in 1989 and continue to maintain the credentials for my mediation services to be confidential under Massachusetts law. This means that my mediation clients cannot end the mediation process and then demand that I inform his/her/their new counsel about what happened in mediation or call me as a witness in Court.
In addition to my many years experience as a mediator, I bring decades of traditional negotiation and trial experience to the mediation process. I have worked with many attorneys to help settle cases and during my previous years as a trial lawyer, I had a highly successful record of trial outcomes in Court. All of this experience helps me develop unique solutions for families who plan to marry or are separating, divorcing, or having post-divorce issues.
