Tag: expectations
Family Mediation vs. Litigation: What’s the Difference?
Every family lawyer’s favorite sentence is probably, “I have a quick question.” I’m kidding. Mostly. Lawyers have an important job. So do judges. So do mediators. The confusion usually starts when we treat those jobs like different versions of the same thing. They’re not. If you need someone advocating specifically for your legal interests, that’s… Read more
Can I Go Through Family Mediation Without an Attorney?
This is a topic that seems obvious but really isn’t. When I first went through my divorce, I immediately thought, Who’s my attorney, not What can be figured out in mediation. I didn’t understand that I control the process. I didn’t understand that I was supposed to not only participate, but make the decisions. I… Read more
Beyond the Paper: Living the Agreement
Explores why agreements that look fine on paper can feel hard in real life—especially once day-to-day routines kick in. General education only: no advice, no case examples, no “what you should do. Educational only. Read more
What to Expect at Your First Mediation Session
If you’ve never been to mediation before, you’re probably filling in the blanks yourself. Nervous is normal. You don’t need a monologue prepared, and you certainly don’t need all the answers squared away. The great part is, you already have the boring paperwork out of the way. You’ve completed the forms. I’ve reviewed them, and… Read more
How Mediation Works at My Fair Mediation
When most people think about family mediation they imagine a cold room with the person you can’t stand right now, and someone else, the mediator, someone you just met. It doesn’t exactly set the scene for warm, fuzzy, open conversations. At MFM, we don’t like cold rooms. I don’t mean 65 degrees Fahrenheit, I mean… Read more
What Mediation Can’t Do (and What People Secretly Wish It Would)
Every once in a while, someone walks into mediation hoping it’s about to perform a small miracle. I wish I could tell you it works that way. It doesn’t. Mediation can be incredibly useful, but part of using it well is understanding what it can’t do. Those limits aren’t flaws in the process. They’re actually… Read more
Florida Man Mediation FAQs
Sometimes one person is ready to make a plan…and the other person is in what I call Florida Man Mode. Florida Man Mode isn’t about where you live. It’s my affectionate name for the moments when planning feels harder than hoping everything will somehow work itself out. By that, I mean someone who’s: If you’ve… Read more
