Couples never plan for the end because it feels like setting an expiration date. The only issue with this kind of thinking is that planning involves honest input from both parties where an exit only takes the withdrawal of one side of the bridge. When that spanned gap comes crashing down, life savings, businesses, homes, and families can come crashing down with it. Enter the seemingly impossible role of the mediator. In this analogy think of a mediator as a cross between Atticus Finch and Batman. Part consoling but fair legal expert and part covert ninja that saves the day by shedding light on the unflattering parts of life. A mediator’s role is to represent both sides of the life altering conflict to come to a mutually agreeable and ultimately healing solution. Sound impossible? Practically every couple that ends in court seems to think the same thing. Skepticism is not unwarranted as successful mediation is not a difference in paperwork or a 3 step panacea. Successful mediation requires a truly talented divorce mediator.

This week’s featured business does just that. With the divorce rate on the climb from big cities like Metropolis all the way to little embankments like Smallville and Sanborne County, the need is met with a variety of solutions and none are graceful or amicable like this family law mediation firm. Take for example how ugly a divorce can get between court appearances, family and friend personal testimonies and public recounting of embarrassing issues. Want your gambling problem or extra-marital affair to become public record? The mixed martial arts arena of divorce court is glad to make that public record. As they say, what happens in Vegas stays in divorce court. Consider the alternative of private mediation. In divorce mediation, all proceedings take place in the privacy of an office and remain strictly confidential. What’s more the division of assets doesn’t become 50/50 split – between the husband’s lawyers and the wife’s lawyers. Typical mediation costs 1/10th the price of divorce court.

The obvious benefits don’t ring through unless the mediation is a success though. There is a wide chasm between what some mediators would call a success and what success means to this certified family law mediation attorney.  Couples are baffled by the outcome that they walk away from a divorce feeling heard, relieved and even optimistic about the future. That takes a talented attorney and mediator to navigate the most challenging life event many couples ever have to face and reposition it as a new beginning.

Her rave reviews speak volumes about what she does but more than that, they speak to the level of gratitude her clients feel toward her that they would publicly share their experience with a divorce attorney. Stand outside the doors of a divorce court sometime and you will find yourself dodging daggers being stared at the opposing parties. There’s nothing “5 stars” about the experience. While no divorce is going to be pleasant, the best a couple can possibly hope for is to be mutually represented by a family law mediator that cares about the well-being of both parties and the success of the family unit. We at the clute institute are proud to report that in the otherwise bleak world of marriage dissolution – there is a beacon of reconciliation and balance in mediation.