Mediation as an Option in Minnesota Divorce

Twin Cities Divorce Attorney, Mediator, and Arbitrator
Michael C. Black

Clients who are considering divorce face many difficult decisions. Sometimes those decisions are best left to a judge in family court, but far more often, they can be reached successfully—and more cost effectively—by working with a mediator to craft a divorce agreement.

I'm attorney Michael Black. I have almost 30 years of family law experience, and in the past decade I have developed a significant mediation practice in the Twin Cities. I receive referrals from the Ramsey County Family Court as well as from other attorneys. In 2007 alone, I will handle some 75 mediation cases. I am a member of Conflict Resolution Minnesota, a voluntary association of mediators that sponsor education programs and provides outreach to the public.

I am fully qualified and experienced in taking divorce cases to family court. I have handled many hundreds of cases in divorce court over the years. This experience had demonstrated to me that many of my clients find they have much to gain when they make use of mediation to reach a mutually agreeable divorce agreement or child custody agreement.

If you would like to learn more about whether divorce mediation (or arbitration) can work for you, contact my St. Paul law office for a free consultation.

Twin Cities Divorce Mediation

As a mediator, I act as a neutral facilitator helping the parties reach agreement on issues of marital property division, spousal and child support, and child custody and visitation arrangements. I help the participants identify the issues of agreement and disagreement and facilitate the exchange of information needed for them to make decisions and find solutions.

Both parties in the divorce mediation are encouraged to have a lawyer during the process. Sometimes, the attorneys will attend the mediation conferences with their clients. While this can be expensive, it often helps to resolve things faster. Most mediation sessions are done face-to-face with both parties in my conference room. Additional rooms are available for meeting with the parties separately.

I usually schedule two-hour mediation sessions. This allows enough time to fully discuss the issues without being so long that people become fatigued.

After each session, I write a letter to both parties and their attorneys summarizing the discussion, the areas of agreement, and the issues remaining to be resolved. I list the information to be exchanged by the parties and set a time for the next session. I also provide property settlement spreadsheets, child support calculations, and income tax analysis reports the parties have asked me to prepare. This summary letter assures that progress is recorded and provides a starting point for the next session. It also keeps all attorneys in the case in the loop so the clients can seek feedback and legal advice before their next session.

The end result of the process is a written agreement that recites the terms of the settlement in detail. The agreement will follow the same format as a marital termination agreement, so it can easily be converted into a binding court order. Most parties will have me forward the agreement to their attorneys so that it can be used as a basis for the final court order or decree.

Many times, the parties will ask me to file the final legal paperwork with the court at the end of the mediation. I cannot do so. As a neutral mediator, it is unethical for me to then serve as an attorney for one of the parties.

Arbitration in Minnesota Divorce and Family Law Cases

Some parties who want to avoid having a judge make a decision in their case and will submit their dispute to a neutral party for binding arbitration. I have served as an arbitrator in a number of family law disputes.

Contact my law office to schedule a consultation.