Memphis attorney Vincent Perryman discusses Alternatives to Litigation in Family Law Cases with Laur

Memphis attorney Vincent Perryman discusses alternatives to litigation in Family Law cases with Laurie Hall and Bill Jones. When it comes to divorce or separation there are two main alternatives to litigation with divorce. One alternative to litigation for divorce in Memphis is Collaborative Law. Collaborative law is when the parties involved and the Memphis Attorneys agree to settle their divorce out of court. This is a less expensive approach than going to court and can be used in the midst of divorce, post divorce and when the two parties had children together but were never legally married. Another alternative to litigation in a divorce is mediation in Memphis. Mediation is one of the most dignified ways to handle a divorce. It puts the divorce back in the hands of the parties involved. In a mediation it is about the two parties discussing how things will be handled in all areas including custody, ownership, and child support. Both a collaborative divorce and a mediated divorce have an individual that acts as the mediary between the two to help resolve the issues that arise when making these decisions.

In order to start a collaborative divorce the two parties involved need to decide to find a Collaborative Attorney. In Memphis they can find a collaborative attorney using the Internet by going to the Memphis Collaborative Alliance website. This website lists all the Collaborative Attorneys in Memphis.

Collaborative Law is an appropriate path to take for a couple seeking to divorce if they are separating, but still have a working relationship. If one of the parties is impaired by drug use, some mental illness has arisen, or physical abuse has taken place, then Collaborative Law is not a good direction to take. If litigation is necessary and an amiable approach cannot be accomplished then the two parties will need to hire new Memphis attorneys and cannot use their existing Collaborative attorneys.

If Collaborative Law does not work, the parties are required to hire new Memphis Attorneys. This gives them an incentive to try to make things work.

How does the Collaborative Law process work? Once the parties have retained their attorneys, the parties and the attorneys get together and have a four way meeting where the first they do is sign participation agreement that outlines what Collaborative Law is all about. The contract contains a clause that states in the event they cannot resolve their issues outside of court they will need to retain different attorneys in order to go to court. Once the parties have retained their attorneys and signed the contract they can begin to discuss their issues.

The issues have to be identified, fully discussed and both parties have to be fully committed to hearing out the opposite party. Once the hearings are completed a resolution is obtained. Sometimes to help guide the process, Collaborative Lawyers in Memphis, recommend a mental health professional to help with children or other issues. If there are financial issues involved Collaborative Attorneys will obtain the assistance of a financial professional. Then mediation is requested from a neutral third party.

A mediator is either employed by a court order or request by the separating parties. Mediators will come in as a neutral party to listen and help direct the two separating parties to come to a proper and beneficial resolution. Memphis mediators can help show the financial benefit of settling out of court. Once a resolution is accomplished, the mediator draws up a mediation agreement, everyone signs it, it is now a binding agreement and the Memphis attorneys can file the final paper work for the dissolution of the marriage.

In mediation if only a portion of the case must be resolved which is still a windfall because that is less that has to be legally resolved. In Collaborative Law the entire case must be resolute with no remaining issues. Collaborative attorneys cannot handle any issues outside of the current case that will need to go to court.

One major difference in Collaborative Law and Mediation is that Collaborative Law is a longer process than mediation. The Memphis Attorneys are committed to resolve the issues. A motivation to finalize all differences in a Collaborative Law resolution is that if the process is not completed and attorneys need to be retained, the process will have to start from the beginning again. If it looks like their will be an impasse and there are only a few articles that cannot be agreed upon some of these items cannot be resolved you can enter into an agreement to limit the issues for litigation.

With mediation in Memphis it is a little quicker to resolve the issues with your mediator without attorneys. If there is an impasse, the resolved issues can have an agreement drafted upon them and the rest can be resolved in court. If a family goes to a mediator before going to court some judges in Memphis will allow a divorce to go to hearing a little sooner since they have shown they have tried to resolve their dispute out of court. This is also the case with a Collaborative Law case that could not obtain a resolution and had to go to court.