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95 Reef Road
Fairfield,
Connecticut
06824
Phone: 203-292-4950
Fax: 203-292-4951
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Family Law – Mediation – Limited Scope Representation
The decision to divorce is difficult and painful. The process does not have to be. Avoid the emotional and financial cost of a litigated divorce. Even in the best economic times, people do not have the money to spend on court costs and legal fees for a litigated divorce. As a family lawyer, legal coach, and mediator, it is my goal and responsibility to help you avoid the high costs of a litigated and adversarial divorce that destroys relationships and depletes assets.
You can choose instead to:
• Obtain a high quality successful divorce
• Maintain privacy and control over your life and outcome
• Minimize court involvement
• Protect your children
• Reduce conflict
• Save time and money
What is Mediation?
Mediation involves the parties meeting with a neutral mediator to discuss and resolve their issues of custody, visitation, spousal and child support, and the division of assets and debt without court intervention in a non-adversarial setting based on cooperation, voluntary disclosure, and mutual decision-making. Although mediation is not therapy, it provides an arena better able to address the emotional side of divorce. Mediators do not represent either party. The mediator facilitates productive and meaningful discussion between the parties to help them reach an agreement, at their own pace and through their own work, that both find fair and reasonable based on their specific standard of living, values, financial circumstances, and parenting style.
What is Limited Scope Representation (LSR)?
Limited Scope Representation, also referred to as Legal Coaching, is an affordable way for individuals to represent themselves while working with an attorney whose experience, guidance and knowledge helps ensure that their rights are protected, that they have the information needed to make good choices, and gives the confidence to navigate through what can be a complex and intimidating court system. When you hire an attorney for LSR, you will be a “pro se” party. As your attorney, I work behind the scenes on the more technical parts of your case.
Legal Coaching reduces the exorbitant costs associated with retaining an attorney to take full ownership of a case and removes a lot of the fear and uncertainty associated with not having an attorney’s representation. Legal Coaching is a way for all self-represented parties to get the legal advice and guidance needed to arrive in court prepared with proper paperwork and realistic expectations. Working as a team, my client and I determine the steps necessary to prepare his or her case and move it through the system properly and efficiently, in terms of both time and cost. Individuals who are committed to reducing their legal fees decide the extent and degree of my involvement, and their case and the costs and fees involved remain in their control at all times.
Examples of Limited Scope Representation might include:
• Obtaining legal information and advice about preparing for divorce or commencing a divorce or custody matter.
• Legal advice on a particular issue, concern, or ambiguity in a divorce agreement.
• Preparing court forms and other legal documentation.
• Discussing how procedures and guidelines work within the court system.
• Representation for a particular issue such as modifying child support, alimony or custody, a motion for contempt, or to enforce a provision of your original divorce judgment.
• Coaching a client for a special motion or upcoming court hearing, including preparing them to testify, preparing and serving a subpoena, and organizing documents for trial.
• Researching legal issues.
• Assistance with the drafting and filing of legal documents and pleadings to insure you are meeting court deadlines, filing all of the necessary pleadings for your particular action, and in compliance with the court’s practices and rules.
Read more about Attorney Wakefield and her Legal Coaching services in the June 1, 2009 edition of the Connecticut Law Tribune. She is also featured in "Coaching Cuts the Price of Divorce" in the Connecticut Post.
What is Collaborative Law?
The collaborative process, like mediation, is non-adversarial where each party is represented by independent counsel and issues are discussed and resolved through a series of four-way meetings between the parties and their attorneys under a written agreement not to litigate the matter in court. Like mediation, the parties retain control and power over outcome. For the collaborative process to succeed, there must be honest and voluntary financial disclosure, cooperation, and compromise and the parties must reach an agreement to participate in productive and meaningful discussion to reach a fair and reasonable settlement based on their specific standard of living, values, financial circumstances, and parenting style.
What Are The Advantages of Staying Out of Court?
• Control and power over outcome – The law is not always clear in a family proceeding and outcomes are never guaranteed. If you want to retain a greater degree of control and influence with a feeling of empowerment as to how things turn out, rather than intimidation or frustration, you are best served through the process of mediation or a collaborative divorce in an atmosphere of cooperation with your spouse. Parties participate voluntarily, are honest and forthright in their financial disclosure, and share a commitment to stay out of court and settle their issues through continued negotiations and discussion.
• Reduced financial and emotional cost – Although there is no guarantee, a mediated divorce will be less costly emotionally. It keeps the parties working together to arrive at an outcome they can both accept, rather than an outcome imposed upon them by a judge or out of fear or because there is no more money to fight.
• Shorter timeframe from start to finish – A mediated or collaborative case usually takes less time than a traditional case to settle because the parties control when to start the case, how often to meet, and the timelines for exchanging financial records. Direct communication between the parties reduces telephone calls, correspondence, and email exchange between the parties and attorneys.
• Greater compliance with the terms of the divorce agreement – It is proven that parties have a greater commitment to an agreement reached out of court or through mediation. This results in less post-divorce litigation, less conflict, and greater compliance and enforcement of their divorce agreement, thereby avoiding unnecessary costs and legal fees.
About Susan W. Wakefield
For twenty years I have focused my practice exclusively on family and divorce law. People I meet are in a great deal of emotional pain and most have been dealing with difficulties for a long time before ever seeking legal advice. Over the years I have seen families destroyed, assets depleted, and lives put on hold while their case moves through the court system. The uncertainty of life during divorce is paralyzing, especially for children. With a background in divorce litigation, I have witnessed what happens when parties are placed in an adversarial position. Divorce is both a legal and an emotional process. Because our legal system does not address the emotional side of family law, at the end of a divorce people find they are still angry and hurt and the difficulties and lack of communication that existed before the divorce are still there, which affects their ability to co-parent, willingness to comply with the terms of settlement, and to heal in their personal lives.
I recommend a mediated or non-adversarial divorce process to all of my clients. I believe in bringing parties together so they can create at their own pace, and through their own hard work and compromise, an agreement which benefits the whole family. I bring to the mediation table information that may not be available to a non-lawyer mediator, such as insight into the possible outcomes if their matter were to go to court. Whether an attorney acts on behalf of one party or as an attorney-mediator for a couple, clients leave the process with a sense of relief, an agreement they commit to voluntarily and willingly, an ability to successfully co-parent their children, and hope for the future. Mediation is not right for everyone. If mediation is not right for you, I will represent you and negotiate a settlement for you in a non-adversarial and cost-efficient manner.
Moreover, not every couple or every case needs or can afford full representation by an attorney. I offer legal advice and counseling on an hourly basis and to whatever extent you need, such as advising on how to start an action, prepare court papers, and what to expect in court. If you are already working with a mediator, I am available to act as your independent counsel to review your mediated agreement and answer questions you may not want to ask during your mediation.
Individuals still contemplating divorce or a legal separation can benefit by early legal counseling and guidance to help inform and prepare them for what is ahead and identify what they expect from their divorce and what is most important to them.
I am available and responsive to your calls and email and attentive to your specific needs and concerns.
Contact me for an initial consultation to discuss:
• Legal process and procedure, including the different ways to divorce, such as mediation, collaborative divorce, adversarial divorce, and the cost and timeframe of each process
• Expectations of outcome
• Goal setting and strategizing on how to achieve those goals
• Emotional and financial impact of divorce
• Referrals to mental health professionals and financial advisors
For your convenience, I am available for weekend and evening appointments.
Please email us or visit our website for additional information.
Articles by The Law Office of Susan W. Wakefield:
