ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser -- in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man.”

-Abraham Lincoln

The Mediation Process

The Fowler Law Firm provides clients with ethical, compassionate assistance in the resolution of disputes and conflict management. A mediator's role is to help the parties identify the issues behind adversarial positions, and guide the participants through a process of generating creative alternatives and arriving at workable agreements. Our mediators work to provide enforceable Mediated Settlement Agreements, filed in the court of proper jurisdiction.

As a peaceful alternative to the adversarial dispute resolution process, mediation avoids an unsatisfactory resolution imposed by the courts. Because the parties play an integral role in the resolution process, each participant is more inclined to honor the agreement. The mediation process is typically more cost effective and less time consuming than protracted litigation. Legal, emotional, financial, and ethical concerns can be addressed in a confidential, respectful manner, resulting in mutually satisfactory, reasonable agreements. Whether the dispute is a family disagreement, an employee argument, or a corporate conflict, mediation provides workable win-win solutions.

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."  
 
-Romans 12:18

Family Disputes

The breakdown of familial relationships can severely compromise communication and trust between family members. Living in a state of constant emotional crisis is psychologically devastating, especially to the children. Realizing the long-term polarizing consequences of family litigation, many courts now require parties to mediate prior to setting a final hearing on a contested family matter.

Whether or not a divorce is imminent, mediation can be a positive force in resolving emotional family disputes. Our attorney mediators are skilled in assisting in the resolution of issues related to divorce, property division, child support, custody, visitation, and other parenting issues. Our attorneys are expert in the confidential negotiation of pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, separation contracts, parent-adolescent behavior contracts, family safety plans, eldercare agreements, guardianships, adoptions, paternity agreements, and cooperative parenting agreements. Our comprehensive array of services include preparation of nonbiased Mediated Settlement Agreements incorporating and memorializing negotiated settlement terms, as well as drafting all legal documents necessary for the dissolution of marriage and related transfer of property.

Mediation of family disputes provides an alternative to expensive adversarial proceedings. The parties own their decision-making process, as well as the outcome. Each party is more likely to honor the agreement than if an emotionally unsatisfactory solution is imposed by the courts, thereby reducing the need for expensive modification and enforcement actions. Through the mediation process, parties actively participate in finding the unique solution that is just right for each unique situation.

"I learned the true practice of law. I learned to find out the better side of human nature and to enter men's hearts. I realized that the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby -- not even money, certainly not my soul."

-Mohandas Ghandi

Corporate Conflict Management

Conflict is inevitable. Accordingly, understanding and managing conflict situations are integral to the success of any business. Constructive conflict can be a positive force in the workplace, empowering employees to identify and resolve problems, clarify important issues, development open communication, and release tension and stress. However, unmanaged conflict can be detrimental to every member of the organization, even those who may be the source of the conflict. The negative consequences of unmanaged conflict include expensive employee absenteeism, declining productivity, high employee turnover rates, reduced cooperation, weakened management, poor customer relations and diminished morale.

Our conflict management specialists assist to develop constructive conflict parameters, and resolve negative workplace conflicts by training managers and employees to collaborate closely to reach consensus, using principles of mutual respect, logic, equity, compassion, and synergetic vision for individual and professional success. Whether forming conflict management initiatives, conducting management/employee negotiations, providing train-the-trainer seminars, or mediating individual conflicts and inter-organizational disputes, our attorneys provide reasonable, goal-oriented alternatives and solutions to detrimental work-place conflict.

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