Interested in training to become a mediator? (Who isn’t?)  Then join Peace Talk  top mediators this October for a Family Law Mediation  Certification Program.

Our 40-hour training course, cosponsored by Institute for Conflict Management, will give participants the opportunity to learn how family law mediators help families create lasting solutions. 

The first 5 attendees to sign up receive a $300 discount on tuition.

Find out more online at:

www.icmadr.com/mediation-certification/divorce-mediation-training.html

You know you are on the road to success when your field is mentioned by a celebrity or on reality TV. (I am only half kidding). Well prepare for divorce mediation to take off now that the TV show Denise Richard: It’s Complicated has hit the E! Channel. In the show actress Denise Richards meets with a divorce mediator on camera to discuss her divorce.

While this is not necessarily the best press for the sane, sensible, confidential, and affordable approach to mediation that Peace Talks believes it, as the old saying goes “Any press is good press.”

We usually deal with existing relationships at Peace Talks and on this blog, but this posting on the blog Nerds Do It Better caught our eye and is worth sharing.

The post offers 50 tips for dating after divorce.  Some of our favorites are:

Learn to enjoy your own company, use social networking sites, rekindle old interests, and volunteer.  But there are plenty other great tips to choose from that you can check out here.

From the world of thinly stretched analogies, I thought I should point out that in the U.S Open, a nearly unknown player, aptly named Rocco Mediate, is battling established golf giant Tiger Woods in a playoff today. Mediate is the new “alternative” to Woods and is finally getting recognized for his success in his field.

I will let you draw the connections.

In the latest issue of the ABA Journal, there is a great article about the nastiness of divorce litigation and the move towards mediation and other alternative dispute resolution tools.

One highlight from the article written by Jill Schachner Chanen reads:

Wider use of alternative dispute resolution is a key reason why more divorce cases are being resolved with less acrimony, say Hunt and other matrimonial lawyers.

“We feel that it has increased client satisfaction,” Chinn says. “We are resolving cases more quickly, for example, by moving immediately to a mediation date, practicing full disclosure, creating asset notebooks with the numbers and your position on them. It’s just to make it easy for the other side.”

Many jurisdictions now mandate mediation in divorce cases, especially where custody is at issue, Herman says. “In one of the counties that I practice in, there is an 80 percent success rate for [resolving] contested custody cases with mediation,” he says.

Check out the entire article here.

If you have kids or hang around child-like adults, you have probably heard someone scream out “shotgun” as they approach the car. This modern tradition allows the non-drivers to lay claim to the front passenger seat when there is the potential it will be contested by another. What is so intriguing about the game is that the competing parties rarely have a practical interest in acquiring the seat. The 5’4 person will still belt out “shotgun” even if the competitor for the seat is 6’5 and the car is a sub-compact. The goal is merely to have a victory.

This same desire to win, even when it’s impractical, can also creep its way into the divorce process and create unnecessary and damaging results. A spouse may lay claim to an item, even though they know it is something they have no interest in, just to feel victorious. This little victory may feel good, but it can be costly, figuratively and literally.

The win typically leads to tit for tat retaliation from the other soon-to-be ex-spouse. And in the end, the retaliation usually leads to unworkable divorce and custody agreements. Meanwhile, each party is spending more time (read: more money) with their lawyers to try and salvage the things they really wanted to begin with.

In divorce mediation, we try to eliminate the child-like competition and bring practicality back into the process. Couples in a mediation session are given the opportunity to openly discuss their interest in an item and work towards an agreement that ensures everyone can claim a victory.