Family Law Mediation Services
Serving the Greater Fort Lauderdale Area
Law Office of Carrie Andersen
29 Office locations to choose from in Boca Raton, Coral Springs, Delray Beach, Fort Lauderdale (Main Office), Hollywood, Miramar, Plantation, Sunrise & Weston
What is mediation?
Mediation is a process where parties of a dispute work with a neutral person (the mediator) to help them to resolve their disagreements through conversation. Mediation is advantageous over litigation in that it is less expensive, less time consuming and the parties retain more control over the final outcome.
Expense – with both mediation and litigation you pay for the mediator’s or the attorney’s time. However, with litigation you will each have an attorney and you will be paying for the attorney’s time communicating with you or with the other party’s attorney, in preparing for court or in going to court. With mediation, you will be paying for half of the mediator’s time (the other party generally pays for the other half unless you have agreed to pay for all of the time) and the time is generally spent discussing how you both feel the case should be resolved.
Time – cases scheduled for trial may be scheduled months in the future. Generally, mediation can be scheduled within a week to a month.
Retaining control – when a case is litigated, the judge makes the decision about what will happen. In mediation, you both agree as to what will happen. In both cases, you may not get everything that you want, but with mediation you choose which things you are willing to give up in order to reach an agreement.
UPS Contract Negotiation, UPS Cost Reduction, FedEx Contract Negotiation, FedEx Cost Reduction, Parcel Contract Negotiation, Parcel Cost Reduction
How do I set up mediation?
To set up mediation, you will need to contact me. This can be done by phone or by email; however no mediation session will be set up until I have spoken to all parties to the dispute to explain the process and all parties have agreed to use me.
As part of these conversations, I will find out the times that work best for each party and try to come up with as convenient a time as possible.
I will then send out a letter with the date, time, and place of the mediation together with suggestions about what type of information you should bring. The letter also contains the Agreement to Mediate which should be completed and brought to the first mediation session.
Who benefits from mediation?
Mediation is especially beneficial when people will have to continue to have a relationship. Mediation can be used for the following types of disputes, among others:
- Dissolution of Marriage (divorce)
- Allocation of Parental Responsibilities (custody)
- Modification of Parenting Time
- Modification of Child Support
- Post Decree Matters
- Neighbor Disputes
- Landlord/Tenant Disputes
UPS Contract Negotiation, UPS Cost Reduction, FedEx Contract Negotiation, FedEx Cost Reduction, Parcel Contract Negotiation, Parcel Cost Reduction
UPS Contract Negotiation, UPS Cost Reduction, FedEx Contract Negotiation, FedEx Cost Reduction, Parcel Contract Negotiation, Parcel Cost Reduction
Can we draft the legal documents?
Yes. As an attorney and mediator, Carrie can draft a legally binding settlement agreement and/or a Stipulated Judgment and have the documents filed with the Court. Having the documents drafted by the mediator is generally less expensive and contentious than having them drafted by an attorney representing one of the parties. Though, having your own attorney review documents is recommended.
