A rather introductory piece on divorce mediation within the United States from the Vernon Hills Review.
In traditional divorce litigation, the only one making money is the lawyer. Attorney fees can total up to $50,000.
In this instance, mediation costs between US$1,500 and $3,000.
The mediation firm, Robert Brass & Associates' research shows that mediating couples are committed to working together for the benefit of their children, more likely to be satisfied with the process and results, more likely to take less time and spend less money, and less likely to go back to court at a later time to fight about something else.
My observations on this are that mediation is growing in the UK and with the receession there will be more interest in this form dispute resolution. Clients will put pressure on lawyers to save costs but how will the lawyers feel about mediating?