Mediation
What Are The Benefits Of Mediation?
Mediation is a far more flexible, and often less costly, means of resolving Family Law disputes. The cornerstone of mediation is that it is a voluntary, confidential process, guided by the self-determination of the participating parties. What this means is that the parties to the mediation cooperate to make their own decisions as to how to resolve the issues between them.
In mediation, a trained, neutral professional meets with two or more parties to facilitate a resolution of the conflicts between them. Mediators do not decide the issues between the parties. Rather, mediators help the parties obtain necessary information to identify and evaluate various options for respectfully resolving their conflicts. The parties themselves must mutually select and agree upon appropriate resolutions to their disputed issues.
Megan Clark is approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Family Law Mediator. She conducts private and court-ordered mediations. If you are considering mediation as an alternative to divorce or other litigation, please contact our office today.
Parties can choose to participate in mediation with or without independent legal counsel. The mediator cannot give either party legal advice and cannot offer an assessment of whether the agreements made by the parties are fair or consistent with the law. Thus, when legal questions arise during the mediation process, we often encourage the parties to obtain legal advice from their own counsel.
We can either be retained as the actual mediator in your family law matter, or can serve as independent counsel offering professional legal advice during the divorce mediation process. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the New Jersey divorce process, we cannot act in both capacities in the same case. In the event mediation does not resolve your dispute, we have the skill and experience to litigate your matter in Court. For more information concerning our legal services for child custody, or to schedule your no-cost consultation, call Clark Family Law, LLC at 973-729-0319.