How is Mediation Handled?

For many families, the emotional and financial costs of litigating their family issues in court outweigh the benefits they may gain from resolving their disputes. With mediation, they have control over what happens and make crucial decisions that will be fair for everyone involved. This is particularly crucial if decisions involving children must be made.

Mediation lawyers will listen to all the parties involved to discuss their options and help them craft fair solutions to their issues. They do not take sides, and the family gets to make the final decisions.

What You Can Expect During Mediation

At Banks, Stubbs & McFarland, our Suwanee mediation lawyers follow standard procedures when mediating family law matters. In our Suwanee offices, one party will stay in a room with their lawyer, and the other will stay in a separate room with their lawyer. They will not have contact with each other during the mediation sessions, and it’s the job of our mediation lawyer to go back and forth between the parties to resolve their case.

Our Suwanee mediation lawyer helps the family members involved communicate effectively with each other by:

Identifying all the issues that they need to resolve.
Prioritizing their issues so they can focus on resolving one issue at a time.
Coming up with possible solutions that will be fair for all parties.
Developing custody plans, parenting plans, support plans, and other relevant issues.
Preparing a draft of the emerging agreements.
Reviewing, revising, and creating the final agreement to be filed with the court.

If there’s a history of alcohol or drug abuse or family violence, we must evaluate whether mediation will be effective and safe, taking into account the nature, intensity, and frequency of previous incidents. We will only proceed with mediation if we deem that the safety of all parties will be ensured.

Will Mediation Work For My Case?

While no alternative dispute resolution option can guarantee the success of each case, the success rates for mediation involving family law issues are usually better than those litigated in court. This is usually because all parties feel like they have won after a successful mediation, while only one party usually wins in court. The reason for this is that parties are in control over what happens during mediation.

However, a successful mediation will require all parties to negotiate fairly. For instance, if one party would rather throw thousands of dollars to humiliate the other party in court instead of saving the money for their children, mediation will not be successful. In some cases, people who have impractical expectations and think that the judge will side with them may have to go through a hearing or two before they agree to mediation and negotiate.

Reach Out to an Experienced Suwanee Mediation Lawyers Today

Mediation is not for everyone. However, when the parties agree to allow an experienced Suwanee mediation lawyer to help them solve their issues instead of litigating in court, it can reduce stress, hostility, and expenses. To learn more about mediation works for family law cases, contact Banks, Stubbs & McFarland. Arrange your case review by calling 770-945-2320 or contacting us online.