Law Commons^™

Divorce Child Custody Mediation: In Order To Form A More Perfect Disunion , Ben Barlow

Cleveland State Law Review

The adversarial process serves its purpose in our society; however, that does not mean that there are not better ways to handle specific cases. To that end, nonadversarial systems offer tremendous potential in civil litigation, in governmental relations, in neighborhood and family conflicts, and, especially, in divorce child custody cases. If mediation statutes are contemplated for the sole purpose of judicial economy, discretionary statutes are sufficient. For the true value of mediation to be experienced, however, a mandatory scheme containing safeguards for cases involving domestic violence should be implemented.Understandably, many mediators are leery of the effect that mandatory schemes have …