Mediation is required in every dissolution case in King and Snohomish County. Mediation offers the opportunity for the parties to come to agreements about a final resolution for the issues in their case.

Mediation is an effective, lower cost, and lower conflict way to resolve your case. Most family law cases resolve in mediation rather than trial.

Mediation allows parties to come up with creative solutions to move forward in a way that is best for your family.

As your case progresses, if a resolution cannot be reached between the parties or through negotiations by counsel, mediation is the next best step.

During representation, we will discuss when mediation should occur and collaborate on who to select as a mediator.

Sometimes a neutral third party is needed to help people resolve their disputes. Whether needing to answer a question about how to interpret a section of the parenting plan or a clause in an order of child support or needing help with the full resolution of a dissolution or a legal separation, I am available to act as a neutral arbiter.

With over a decade of experience in family law and training as an arbitrator, I am available for either written or in-person arbitration. Please contact the firm with questions regarding scheduling arbitration.

Sometimes some issues cannot be resolved in mediation but the parties still do not want to proceed to court. The parties can then choose to move forward to arbitration to resolve any issues remaining instead of moving forward to trial.

Arbitration can occur through written materials only which allows a party to have an issue resolved with significantly less expense. A process is agreed upon through the arbitrator’s office and then written submissions are provided to the arbitrator. The arbitrator then issues a binding decision.

Arbitration can also occur in person and be more similar to a trial. While this is a more expensive and time-consuming process, it can also be a better resolution than trial. Arbitration guarantees that an experienced family law arbitrator will be considering the case which is not a guarantee at trial through the Superior Court.

During representation we will discuss whether arbitration is a good fit for your case and who to select as the arbitrator.