Divorce and custody mediation is a relatively new approach to the resolution of family dissolution matters. Of course, there are times when a judge must make a decision, but often only after both spouses have invested substantial amounts of time, money, and emotion. Unfortunately, the litigation process can also heap an additional layer of anger, bitterness, recrimination, stress, expense and sadness onto an already difficult situation. For those spouses, or partners, who would like to try to keep a bad situation from getting worse, mediation is often the perfect solution because it provides the opportunity for achieving a resolution without surrender, with control over the final result, with privacy, speed and often significant monetary savings.

When children are involved, mediation can also provide a vehicle that prevents the children from becoming pawns or weapons. It can shelter them form the stress and anger that almost always spills over during heated litigation, and which can cause long term damage to a child's development and even their personality. At the same time, mediation can demonstrate to the children that their parents are able to resolve differences in a manner that is civil, and which preserves each parent's dignity and respect.

In the mediation process, the spouses, or partners, meet together with the mediator in a safe and structured setting. The mediator will remain scrupulously neutral throughout the entire process, while assisting the participants to identify the issues they wish to resolve; and then negotiate resolutions that are acceptable to both. The mediator will not offer legal advice, will not push a participant into an unwanted decision, and will not represent either participant in a later court proceeding. The participants are always free to retain their own legal counsel at any time in the mediation process, and to terminate mediation should they decide it is not likely to meet their needs or goals.

Mediation offers a special opportunity for unmarried partners to resolve property issues, since there are abundant laws on the books for married couples to obtain property distributions, but only very limited, and draconian, procedures for non-married couples to obtain the same relief.

I am a licensed Pennsylvania lawyer who has practiced in the family law area for over thirty-two years. I am also a trained mediator who belongs to two prominent mediation associations and who subscribes to their codes of ethics and procedures (see Association for Conflict Resolution http://www.acrnet.org/ and the Pennsylvania Association of Mediators at http://www.pamediation.org/). Because of my training, knowledge, experience and legal philosophy (see Attorney profile on separate page) I believe that I can offer special abilities to people looking for less hostility and faster results.

If you believe that professional divorce or custody mediation is appropriate for your situation, or if you are just curios, please contact me and I will be happy to discuss the process and the cost (but not substantive issues about the situation which might jeopardize my neutrality) so that you can decide if mediation is a viable option. Sample fee agreements, disclosures and mediation agreements will be provided gladly upon request. Evening mediation sessions are available by appointment.