Using Outside Legal Counsel
Mediation is a cost-effective alternative for ending marital and family law disputes, including those involving unmarried couples and same-sex partners, that places the welfare of all the participants on an equal footing. Successful mediation often costs one-tenth of what the court experience might generate in terms of legal and professional fees, and is an issue-solving device as compared to the perpetual problem-generating machine that litigation fuels. But, importantly, we want to acknowledge that family law attorneys, and judges, are engaged in an honorable profession and that the traditional paradigm is appropriate and even the best course for some families, and especially those involving domestic violence or power imbalances that cannot be overcome. Mediation is not appropriate for everyone. Until recently, however, the default assumption for earlier generations of couples was that fair outcomes could
only be achieved through litigation. As legal professionals with many years' experience, we promise you that that just isn't so.
Mediation participants may feel that they are best served by including attorneys within our mediations as their spokepersons; we would never argue with this perspective. We encourage the involvement of dedicated legal professionals, particularly for those who feel unprotected without an advocate, but many times there are also productive alternate ways to work with such situations. Sometimes a better solution is to utilize family lawyers as outside consultants to review and comment on agreements reached with the assistance of our mediators, or to provide other necessary input into the process. It is also not uncommon for parties to mediate some of their issues, but to litigate others. Good lawyers know their cases well, and have valuable ideas about how to best approach different legal issues. Our goal is your success, and not to impress upon you or anyone else our idea of how that must be accomplished. We provide a safe, neutral and evenly supported "container" for achieving resolutions.
Whether you choose to have your own counsel or not, our Mediators include two extremely knowledgeable and neutral family law experts who will educate you about all aspects of the law as it impacts your circumstances. At Los Angeles FMS we are dedicated to the concept of "informed consent," which means that our mediation parties have as much information as they need and want before settling any issue.