Dispute Resolution
Disputes about family issues can be addressed using a variety of approaches. Every person has to consider their personal philosophies, finances, emotional status, and history together with the characteristics of the various approaches to find the one that will best meet their unique needs.
Facilitative Mediation
In a facilitative mediation, the mediator manages the process and the parties determine the outcome.
Facilitative mediators help parties’ identify their needs and interests, prioritize issues for discussion, and explore options for resolution. Mediation sessions are generally 2-3 hours in length. Under Washington State’s Mediation Act (RCW 7.07), mediators may not give legal advice or make decisions for their clients. To ensure adequate education around legal issues, parties are encouraged to consult with attorneys familiar with the facilitative mediation process.
Collaborative Mediation
Collaborative law is an interest-based approach. Clients identify what is important now and in the future, and those priorities become an important basis for mutually acceptable agreements.
In collaborative law, clients receive support that is tailored to the unique legal, financial, and emotional aspects of their case. The collaborative team is typically made up of two attorneys, a certified divorce financial analyst, and a communication coach. Other professionals with subject matter expertise (child specialists, mortgage specialists, mediators, business valuators) may also be team members.
A collaborative participation agreement is entered into at the onset of a case that outlines how the process will proceed and typically includes the following elements:
- There will be no court intervention and collaborative professionals may not appear in court except to enter agreed documents
- What happens in the collaborative process is confidential
- All relevant information will be shared
For more information about collaborative law visit http://www.kingcountycollab.org/about-collaborative-law/faqs/
Kitchen Table Negotiation
Some parties can successfully sit down and identify troublesome issues, discuss those issues, and reach resolution with little or no outside support. In such cases, a consulting attorney can assist by giving legal advice and information, reviewing documents or drafting documents.
Evaluative Mediation & Mediation/Arbitration
Evaluative mediation grew out of a judicial model sometimes referred to as a settlement conference. Typically parties are represented by counsel, and each side sits in separate rooms while the mediator shuttles back and forth between the rooms, presenting and discussing offers for settlement. The focus of an evaluative mediation tends to be on legal rights and responsibilities, with the mediator sometimes giving his or her opinion as to each side’s legal strengths and weaknesses. Evaluative mediation generally occurs after a case has been underway long enough to complete the discovery process. Sessions can be long as they are often based on the estimated time it will take to reach resolution.
A relatively new model of dispute resolution is called Med/Arb. In this process the parties mediate and if there is impasse, the mediator transitions to the role of arbitrator, making rulings based on the information supplied during the mediation.
Litigation
Litigation is the traditional legal method of dispute resolution. Legally defined, it is a contest authorized by law, in a court of justice, for the purpose of enforcing a right. Litigation is by its nature an adversarial process in which parties lay forth positions along with the facts, statutes, case law, or public policy that would support that position. Attorneys negotiate on behalf of their clients. Failure to agree can result in hearings to resolve interim issues. To protect client interests attorneys engage in a discovery process which can include serving interrogatories, taking deposition, and subpoenaing records. In the case of divorce or domestic partnership, the current trial date is approximately 11 months after the filing of a petition. Most litigated cases in Washington settle short of trial.
Arbitration
Similar to a judge, an arbitrator is hired as an impartial decision-maker to hear and render judgment on disputed issues based on what the law allows. While arbitration takes place outside the courthouse, often in the arbitrator’s office, preparation for arbitration is similar to preparation for a trial. Arbitration is considered a special proceeding and is governed by a Uniform Arbitration Act in Washington (RCW 7.04A).