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Mediation Services of James D. Scott
Why Mediation Is For Me?
In 1981 I was invited to begin my career with the law firm of Holt and Baugh. As a young associate I frequently worked ten hours per day for seven days per week. My senior partners kept feeding so many divorce cases to me that there was no time to even discuss settlement from the beginning to the trial. Almost every Friday I found myself handling from one to three trials in divorce courts.
Within a few years I became impressed with the predictability of divorces. Within the first interview with a potential client, I could evaluate the case and accurately predict what would result at the end of the trial. After all, how hard is it to divide by two?
Child support has always been predictable, even before the Agnos Act and before the infamous Mandatory Guideline. Today the calculations are a matter of plugging the numbers into one of several computer programs.
I would like to state that in the first ten years of my practice I handled 1,000 divorces. That probably is not an exaggeration, although I have never actually made a count. The way that I handled cases changed when my senior partners retired. I began to settle the contested cases as soon as the emotions of the spouses settled down and everyone could act reasonably. It still amazed me that people would regularly spend $3,500 to $5,000 to $10,000 or more on each side to argue, confront and insult each other before coming to terms.
Mediation Skills
With the birth of my son in the late 1980's I participated in a parenting skills program that rekindled some of the lessons that I had in law school with the very gifted Dean Don Weckstein, who was a world class legal scholar dedicated to a field that lawyers call "Alternative Dispute Resolution." I took that course, Parent Effectiveness Training, twice. A few years later, as my negotiating and deal making skills evolved, I participated in a comprehensive mediation training program developed by Joan B. Kelly, Ph.D and Nancy J. Foster, J.D. of the Northern California Mediation Center.
During the past ten years my involvement in "Alternative Dispute Resolution" has continued to develop to the point that it involves most of my professional practice. It is much more personally satisfying to be a peacemaker than a gladiator. I am a member of the Bar Associations for the states of California and Minnesota and I serve on various Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections.
The Mediation Services of Attorney James D. Scott
My mediation services help people who are facing a divorce stay out of court. Mediation is a voluntary settlement process emphasizing informed decision-making and mutually acceptable agreements.
- The difference between mediating an entire divorce and going to family court is the difference between finding an agreement-based transition versus an order-based end.
- People would rather find their own solution than go to court and have a judge order them to do something.
- People would rather share information than respond to demands and be cross-examined.
- Many states require that the husband and wife go to mediation for the entire case. In California the law requires only that they mediate child custody and visitation arrangements.
- Statistics show that sixty percent (60%) of these disputes may be resolved in mediation.
The problem: Typically a person sees their unhappy marriage, seeks a consultation, and is walked into family court for an Order to Show Cause hearing with no attempt at all to settle the matter before filing a lawsuit against the other spouse. At the end of the OSC they are more angry than ever.
In family court the spouses try to get their way by cutting down each other and howling, "Lie, lie, lie. He/She is hiding money and bad for the kids."
The "family court mindset" of both husband and wife is that it is ok to rack up $5,000 to $10,000 in legal fees because the judge will order the other side to pay them all. In reality, the judge will order the community estate to pay both the lawyers' bills at $10,000 to $20,000.
Mediation begins with an agreement that each spouse shall not file a lawsuit against the other spouse. Mediation concludes with an informed agreement on the future.
More Mediation Facts:
Mediation Skills
Mediation Services
Why does the state bar certify legal specialist?
To help the public identify attorneys who have demonstrated proficiency in specialized fields of law.
This is a highly regarded certificate, not many have it, James D. Scott does . . .