Law Commons^™

Not Your Mother’S Marriage: Utilizing Intergenerational Trauma-Informed Divorce Mediation To Discourage Unhealthy Relational Cycles In Children Of Divorce, Abigail Davis

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article discusses how divorce mediators can discourage cycles of broken relationships and reduce a child’s likelihood of experiencing intergenerational trauma as a result of the dissolution of their parents’ marriage. Divorce mediators must become knowledgeable about the impact of intergenerational trauma and the most favorable mediation outcomes for the wellbeing of the children involved. This includes encouraging families into an optimal settlement, referring parties to important resources for proactive parenting, making necessary mental health referrals, and enhancing the lives of children experiencing divorce. A mediator well-equipped with a strong referral system and cross-disciplinary knowledge of social, emotional, and behavioral …

Alternative Dispute Resolution In Montana: A Catalog Of The Local Rules In Montana District Courts, Brianna Anderson, Brock Flynn

Student Scholarship

A catalog of the Local ADR Rules for the Montana Judicial District Courts, including rules about settlement conferences, mediation, and informal domestic relations trials.

Intimate Partner Violence And Family Dispute Resolution – Coercion, Capacity, And Control, Kelly Browe Olson

Faculty Scholarship

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one of the most complex issues that family dispute resolution (FDR) professionals encounter. Over one-third of women and one-quarter of men in the United States have experienced physical violence, rape, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime (Black et al., 2011), and a majority of separation- and divorce-related cases involve IPV allegations (Ballard et al., 2011; Beck et al., 2010; Belzer, 2003). IPV often escalates, and is most dangerous, during and after separation and creates unique challenges for mediation and other collaborative processes (Beck & Raghaven, 2010; Kelly & Johnson, 2008). Therefore, all …

The Pro Bono Collaborative Project Spotlight: Can You Help? December 2020, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Pro Bono Collaborative Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Honoring Professor Bruce Kogan (05-07-2018), Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Mediating Towards Forgiveness & Family Reconciliation In Divorce; Select Issues In Dispute Resolution: Apology & Forgiveness, Selina J. Shultz

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This paper examines the importance of forgiveness and the rebuilding of trust in the reconciliation of the family during and after a divorce, and contemplates the mediator’s role in leading the parties in this direction.

Mediator Or Judge?: California’S Mandatory Mediation Statute In Child Custody Disputes, Sofya Perelshteyn

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article will argue that mandatory mediation offers important benefits, including lightening the overloaded court system and capitalizing on the flexibility and personalization of mediation in certain kinds of disputes. This article will also discuss how allowing the mediator to provide recommendations to the judge after unsuccessful negotiations can shatter the basic tenets of mediation and create an altogether different process for the dispute. Furthermore, it will argue that California’s mandatory mediation statute creates a system more akin to litigation, since the parties are presenting their case to a mediator who wears the hat of both mediator and judge. In …

Judicial Settlement-Seeking In Parenting Disputes: Consensus And Controversy, Noel Semple

Noel Semple

The judicial role in child custody and visitation disputes has traditionally been understood as one of authoritative decision-making. However this new empirical research suggests that many family court judges prioritize the pursuit of voluntary settlement in pre-trial conferences, using evaluative and facilitative mediation techniques. Drawing on qualitative interviews with judges and other family law professionals in Toronto and New York City, this article identifies points of consensus and controversy among settlement-seeking family judges. Despite the general support for settlement-seeking, there are substantial differences of opinion regarding coercion, due process, and the meaning of the best interests of the child standard.

Judicial Settlement-Seeking In Parenting Disputes: Consensus And Controversy, Noel Semple

Noel Semple

The judicial role in child custody and visitation disputes has traditionally been understood as one of authoritative decision-making. However this new empirical research suggests that many family court judges prioritize the pursuit of voluntary settlement in pre-trial conferences, using evaluative and facilitative mediation techniques. Drawing on qualitative interviews with judges and other family law professionals in Toronto and New York City, this article identifies points of consensus and controversy among settlement-seeking family judges. Despite the general support for settlement-seeking, there are substantial differences of opinion regarding coercion, due process, and the meaning of the best interests of the child standard.

Mandatory Family Mediation And The Settlement Mission: A Feminist Critique, Noel Semple

Noel Semple

North American family law conflicts are very often brought to mediation, in which a neutral third party attempts to bring about a voluntary resolution of the spouses’ dispute. Family mediation has many enthusiastic supporters, and has in many jurisdictions been made a mandatory precursor to traditional litigation. However, it has also given rise to a potent feminist critique, which identifies power imbalance and domestic violence as sources of exploitation and unjust mediated outcomes. This article summarizes the feminist critique of family mediation, and assesses the efforts of contemporary mediation practice to respond to it. Even in the absence of formal …

Accommodating Common Mental Health Issues In Mediation, Rebekah Doley

Rebekah Doley

Mediators have a responsibility to maximise an individual’s ability to effectively participate in the decision-making process, including supporting procedural fairness where equality and balance in the parties’ contributions to the process is expected. Capacity to participate effectively is affected by the presence of mental health concerns.Various means of screening for psychological distress in mediation participants have been discussed, however, there is limited training available to mediators from non-clinical professions in evaluating mental health issues. An alternative approach is to consider ways in which the mediation process could be modified to enhance an individual’s capacity to effectively participate, especially when the …

Video: Unbundled Legal Representation In Family Law: Ethically Managing The Challenges, Hilary A. Creary Esq., Sheena Benjamin-Wise Esq.

NSU Law Seminar Series

• Understand a lawyer's duty under Fla. Fam. L.R.P. 12.040 "limited appearance"
• Learn how to manage clients when delivering unbundled legal services in a limited representation matter
• How to handle limited representation in various contexts: mediation, domestic violence, and court hearings
• Avoiding ethical violations

A Consideration Of Alternatives To Divorce Litigation, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Thomas Carbonneau

This article argues for the need to inform divorce proceedings with a sense of the human reality of matrimonial breakdown. Part one assesses the adequacy of the existing adjudicatory approach to divorce by focusing upon the hiatus between the legal approach to divorce and the emotional content of divorce disputes. Part two lays the foundation for constructive change, providing a statistical portrait of divorce in contemporary America. Part four discusses mediation and suggests that it is a more viable alternative mechanism to divorce litigation. Part five discusses the implementation of a judicial arbitration structure.

A Happier Ending For Everyone: Resolving Adoption Disputes Between Putative Fathers And Adoptive Parents Through Clinical Mediation, Tiffany Bostinelos

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article will discuss the problems putative fathers face when their biological child is put up for adoption without their consent or knowledge. It will further argue that when a custody issue does arise between putative fathers and adoptive parents, the best way to resolve the custody dispute--and more importantly protect the best interest of the child--is through a process called clinical mediation. Finally, even if clinical mediation is not successful, this article will argue that clinical mediators should be permitted to make recommendations to the court as to the custody or visitation issues.

Understanding Your Domestic Relations Rights In Virginia, 2016-2017, Julie Ellen Mcconnell

Law Faculty Publications

The Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association has published this booklet to help you understand the general legal circumstances that you may face in resolving domestic relations problems under Virginia law. Each person faces unique circumstances that may not be specifically addressed in a broad overview. This booklet is not intended to provide specific advice to you or to address your specific situation. You should use this document only as an introduction to understanding your legal rights.

This booklet is based on laws in effect in Virginia on July 1, 2016. Because laws are always subject to change, you should consult …

Robbing The Cradle: The Use Of Mediation In Parental Rights Termination With Evidence Of Drug Abuse By The Mother, M. Katherine Kerbs

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This Comment will explore the use of mediation in termination of parental rights proceedings where there is evidence of drug abuse by the parents. First, this Comment will give an overview of termination proceedings and examine a specific statute’s guidelines for termination. Then, this Comment will provide an overview of mediation and its uses in family law. Finally, this Comment will argue for increased use of mediation in termination of parental rights cases where there is evidence of drug abuse by the mother.

Mediating A Family: The Use Of Mediation In The Formation And Enforcement Of Post-Adoption Contact Agreements, Sophie Mashburn

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This comment will discuss how and why adoption law has evolved into a preference for open adoption, provide a brief history of post-adoption contact agreements, and discuss the current and best practices for utilizing post-adoption contact agreements. Finally, this comment will explore the use of mediation in various states to assist adoptive parents and birth parents in forming and maintaining an agreement they both accept and that furthers the best interests of the children being adopted. Using mediation to further the interests of children, adoptive couples, and birth parents is a positive trend in adoption law that should be encouraged …

Stop Making Court A First Stop For Many Low Income Parents, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

In the wake of the unrest over police misconduct in cities across the country, calls for reform have focused on the criminal justice system — making police, prosecutors, and criminal courts more accountable and just. While much work needs to be done in that arena, too little attention has focused on the ways in which low income families are hurt in civil courts. Many more men, women and children from low income communities of color pass through the doors of our family courts every day than those who interact with the criminal justice system. Some come to court as a …

Child Welfare Mediation In Georgia, Shauna Carmichael

Shauna Carmichael

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Mediation In Probate, Trust, And Guardianship Matters , Mary F. Radford

Mary F. Radford

Mediation is the ADR process by which a neutral third party works with disputants to reach a mutually agreeable resolution. Mediation is arguably the oldest and most popular ADR technique in use today. Part I of this essay discusses the commonly accepted advantages of mediation as an alternative to litigation, and, in some instances, questions whether those advantages become disadvantages in the context of probate, trust, and guardianship cases. Part II examines the use of mediation as a component of the actual estate planning process rather than as an alternative to litigation.

Divorce Involving Domestic Violence: Is Med-Arb Likely To Be The Solution?, Dafna Lavi

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

After an introduction in chapter one, the second chapter of this article presents statistics regarding the phenomenon of domestic violence and presents the definition of “violence” (with its attendant difficulties). The third chapter presents the existing problems regarding the judicial handling of divorce cases in general and those involving violence in particular. The fourth chapter analyzes the academic discourse regarding the issue of mediation of divorce cases involving violence (the position of the proponents and the opponents, as well as the problems of the current situation). The fifth chapter proposes med-arb as addressing the issue of divorce mediation in the …

The Child Client: Representing Children In Child Protective Proceedings, Merril Sobie

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Development Of A Non-Profit Organization, Keep In Touch, As A Solution To The Problem Of Visitation, Shalom Z. Lapoint, Shalom Z. Lapoint

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This project discusses the development of Keep in Touch. Keep in Touch is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which is designed to aid the visitation process. Visitation is concerned with children and their families who have been separated. Reasons for separation vary; however, many children have been separated and would benefit greatly from a local visitation program. Items such as children’s rights, California’s mandatory mediation law, and the current conditions of the family court house in San Bernardino County are all discussed and examined as supporting evidence to the problem of family visitation. The goal of Keep in Touch is …

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Best-Interests Standard: The Close Connection Between Substance And Process In Resolving Divorce-Related Parenting Disputes, Jana B. Singer

Faculty Scholarship

This essay, written for a Symposium celebrating the child custody scholarship of Professor Robert Mnookin, examines the close connection between changes in substantive child custody doctrine and changes in custody dispute resolution processes over the past 30 years. Part I of the article explores how the widespread adoption of an unmediated “best interest of the child” standard, and the ensuing rejection of the sole custody paradigm, precipitated a shift from adversarial to non-adversarial resolution of divorce-related parenting disputes. Part II of the essay reverses the direction of the analytic lens and considers how the shift from adversarial to non-adversarial dispute …

Bargaining In The Shadow Of The Best-Interests Standard: The Close Connection Between Substance And Process In Resolving Divorce-Related Parenting Disputes, Jana B. Singer

Jana B. Singer

This essay, written for a Symposium celebrating the child custody scholarship of Professor Robert Mnookin, examines the close connection between changes in substantive child custody doctrine and changes in custody dispute resolution processes over the past 30 years. Part I of the article explores how the widespread adoption of an unmediated “best interest of the child” standard, and the ensuing rejection of the sole custody paradigm, precipitated a shift from adversarial to non-adversarial resolution of divorce-related parenting disputes. Part II of the essay reverses the direction of the analytic lens and considers how the shift from adversarial to non-adversarial dispute …

Family Mediation After Hendershott: The Case For Uniform Domestic Violence Screening And Opt-In Provision In Montana, Eduardo R.C. Capulong

Montana Law Review

Hendershott is a welcome reaffirmation of Montana’s stand against domestic violence: domestic violence is a public matter requiring serious judicial attention. Without a systematic screening method, however, courts are ill-equipped to disqualify cases for mediation. Montana needs a method that not only diagnoses for domestic violence, but also distinguishes among different types as many, if not most, cases would benefit from mediation. An absolute bar is not the solution. What is required is a broad-based outreach and educational effort that would support what I suspect mediators across the state are already doing: tailoring mediation to address the needs of domestic …

Joint Custody As A Parenting Alternative, Billy G. Mills, Steven P. Belzer

Pepperdine Law Review

Joint custody of children has been a recently accepted alternative to the traditional child custody/visitation orders that usually follow dissolution proceedings. In 1980, California became one of the first states to provide, by statute, a presumption in favor of an award of joint custody to the parents. The authors present the legislative history of this joint custody statute and synthesize the various views that have been expressed on the subject of joint custody. Also presented is a discussion of the legislative intent behind the statute and whether the current law is the most effective means of protecting the best interests …

How To Give The Dog A Home: Using Mediation To Solve Companion Animal Custody Disputes, Emily Franklin

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The article presents information on the domestication of dogs with respect to the resolution of the custody disputes of the animals and the method of mediation for the solving the disputes of companion animals in the U.S. Companion animals are considered as the essential part of the family in the country. Information on the requirement of mediation with respect to the animal law and the family law of the U.S. is also presented.

Mediation Of Marital Disputes Before It Is Too Late: A Proposal For Premarital Contract Provisions For Mediation Of Disputes Within The Intact Family And At Separation , Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Mediation After Hendershott: The Case For Uniform Domestic Violence Screening And Opt-In Provision In Montana, Eduardo R.C. Capulong

Faculty Law Review Articles

In Hendershott v. Westphal, the Montana Supreme Court held that § 40-4-301(2) of the Montana Code Annotated absolutely bars mediation in family law cases involving domestic violence. Yet neither the Court nor the statute prescribes a method by which to screen for such cases. In this article, the author argues that a uniform, statewide screening method is the only way by which to implement this policy. The author also argues that Hendershott should be interpreted narrowly and Montana should allow parties to opt in to mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. The Court's understanding of domestic violence …