Divorce Mediation & Settlement

Due to the enormous amount of acrimony that often accompanies divorce litigation, parties often seek alternative means to resolve their complex issues of divorce. As a means to service clients, certain days each week at the firm are currently reserved exclusively for mediation.

Ms. Fields is a certified mediator from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution sponsored by the Los Angeles Superior Court at Pepperdine University School of Law. Fields has extensive experience also as a Settlement Officer of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The law firm acts as mediator for couples who have already advanced their case to the point where the disclosure of assets and debts and respective claims and assertions are known to the parties. However, the parties, due to varying reasons, are in disagreement and unable to resolve their issues. When T. Elizabeth Fields acts as a mediator for the firm, she does not represent the parties themselves. Rather, the parties are either without counsel or with counsel. Having a family law background, Ms. Fields, as mediator, is able to take both a facilitative and a evaluative approach to assist the parties in resolving their own disputes without court intervention. In addition, Ms. Fields is held to the strictest level of confidence during the mediation and shall not be required to testify in court as to what was discussed during the mediation. Thus, in many respects, mediation is a method to resolve disputes effectively and without court intervention.

The law firm also encourages its own clients to mediate their respective claims. To that end, the firm represents divorcing clients at private mediation whereby a mediator who is experienced in handling divorce matters will be hired to intervene as a third party to negotiate with the parties and counsel to resolve their disputes. Often, parties will jointly retain a retired judicial officer to act as a settlement officer to meet with the parties and their counsel to attempt to structure an all encompassing agreement.