HOW IS DIVORCE MEDIATION / FAMILY MEDIATION COST-EFFECTIVE WHERE THE PARTIES HAVE ALREADY RETAINED ATTORNEYS, FILED SUIT, AND COMPLETED FULL DISCOVERY?
Mediation is cost-effective and can be extremely efficient at this stage of the proceedings. With formal preparation complete, and presumably a trial date on the horizon, the parties negotiation of an agreement under the management of their mediator, is far more direct than the back and forth phone calls between attorneys, joint settlement conferences with attorneys, all at their combined hourly rate. The parties, soon facing an expensive trial, with all issues crystallized, and each having had the benefit of legal counsel throughout the process, are in the ideal situation to approach mediation.
