Attorney
Service Models

Mediation

A trained mediator will assist you and your partner in privately resolving your conflict. The mediator serves as a neutral facilitator of both conflict resolution and necessary court required procedure. Therefore, the mediator will not meet with either of you alone. A mediator can be active or passive. Active mediators provide a recommended agenda with guidance as to procedure, paperwork and common solutions for common issues; a passive mediator focuses more on client issues, allowing the clients to direct the agenda and the discussion of potential solutions.

Mediation has the following benefits:

• Private; you do not need to go to court
• Reduced time pressure and stress; you never are under the gun to make a decision or settling on the court house steps.
• Usually less expensive than representation under the following conditions:
  • Both parties share information openly
  • Both parties commit to resolving the case through mediation
  • Both parties focus on positively moving forward

You are hiring only one joint trained professional rather than both parties hiring their own team. This keeps costs much lower. See our divorce mediation page for further details about mediation services with McCunn Law.

NOTE: In California, if you do not finish mediation, the matter “starts over” if mediation fails.
This is the right model when trust is high, conflict is low, and both parties have the maturity to make tough compromises in the fact of separation. The budget is driven by your ability to come to agreement and get your paperwork down efficiently.

Mediation is available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law, Decedent Estates, Incapacity, and Minors (not available for Estate Planning)

Collaboration

In mediation, sometimes you want to have legal advice private from the other party. One solution is collaboration.

Both parties have their own “mediator” who can step out of a mediation session and have an attorney client confidential conversation. The collaborating attorneys jointly work towards mediating resolution of the underlying issues.

Like mediation, this is an out of court process. If you do not finish collaboration, the matter “starts over” if collaboration fails. We are trained in collaboration and mediation.

NOTE: In “full” collaboration, both parties have both divorce therapists and attorneys on each side of the case.

This is the right model where there are some trust issues; some complexity; or desire for someone “on your side of the table” but you still want to avoid court. There is a trade off of increased expense for greater party comfort and having two attorneys negotiate the final settlement.

Collaboration is only available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law.

Coaching

One of the fastest growing areas for managing a cost effective divorce is coaching.  When you are capable of representing, negotiating and speaking on your own behalf, how do you know what to present to effectively argue your case?  If you are in a mediation, before a judge or directly negotiating with the other party or their attorney, how do you know where the legal boundaries lie and if the options being shared with you are reasonable?

With coaching, you can get the guidance to prepare for these important events, script the possible interactions, and review the options presented to you….without paying for any “down-time.”  When you are represented, communications go directly to your attorney, who are duty bound to respond, allowing the other side to influence your overall legal expense; at appearances, you are also paying for travel time and to have your attorney wait for your matter to be called.  Coaching avoids that.  It focus your financial budget on the key strategic elements you need help with and allows you to self-represent on the steps you feel comfortable handling on your own.

Coaching is available for practice areas and in cases of Family Law, Estate Planning, Decedent Estates, Incapacity, and Minors.