Let’s say you have made the wise decision to divorce via mediation. All ethical and professional divorce mediators will encourage each spouse to consult with his/her own separate review attorney, at least before signing off on a final divorce settlement agreement. One of my areas of expertise is serving as a mediation friendly review attorney for a spouse during a New York divorce mediation.
Why a “mediation friendly” attorney?
It is important for the review attorney to be mediation friendly as well as well-versed in New York divorce law. That is because it’s imperative that the client get good legal advice while still optimizing the chances that the couple make an out of court settlement. If the review attorney is too aggressive, like some New York divorce litigators, the mediation can be torpedoed with the spouses ending up in court at their considerable expense.
Typically, this review process begins when the mediator refers the client to me. Then, the client then contacts me, emails to me a draft of the divorce settlement agreement that the mediator has prepared, and we schedule an initial conversation, either in person, via teleconference, or by telephone. The purpose of that initial consultation is to discuss the case in broad brush strokes, for me to answer any questions that the client may have, and for the client to tell me what issues and provisions in the agreement are particularly important to him/her.
After that initial consultation, I will review the entire agreement and recommend any proposed changes to it. When I do this, I always keep in mind the importance of reaching a fair and reasonable settlement consistent with the client’s reasonable needs and interests. Final decisions regarding any proposed changes to the agreement are always made by the client, and those changes are then communicated to the mediator by either the client or me.
An economical process
The good news is that this review process is economical because it usually only takes a few hours of my time, the client gets valuable legal advice that enables him/her to make knowledgeable choices, and he/she almost always ends up with a better settlement agreement, hopefully for all concerned.
Some divorce lawyers shy away from serving as a mediation review attorney because they don’t think there’s much money in it, so they either don’t take on the review project, or if they do, they don’t give it the attention it deserves. Not me. I love serving as a review attorney because I enjoy giving legal advice and helping couples settle their divorces through the mediation process.
Of course, I also love serving as the divorce mediator. When I do, I always encourage each spouse to consult with his/her own mediation-friendly review attorney. Some do, some don’t, but the wise ones do, and obtain the benefits described above.
For more information on keeping your New York divorce affordable, click here. https://www.westchesterdivorcelawyer.com/affordable-new-york-divorce-part-2/
