Alternative Dispute Resolution

Divorce Lawyers - Alternative Dispute Resolution, Mediation, Arbitration Attorneys in Atlanta & Georgia

In all courts in Georgia except Fulton county, Superior Court judges handle all types of legal matters from divorce to criminal matters, from personal injury cases to business disputes. Given the volume of cases going through our court systems, it is not surprising that it may take months, or even years for your matter to be heard before a judge. Hence, the formation of alternative dispute resolution for divorce and family law cases.

Alternative dispute resolution is the concept that there are additional ways to handle disputes between parties rather than the traditional courtroom approach. Given the unique needs of parties in divorce cases to often work together for the best interest of their children for many years to come, these alternative dispute resolution mechanisms have received growing support from the legal community.

While alternative dispute resolution can take many different forms, the two most common mechanisms being used today are mediation and arbitration. Mediation is a process where the parties (and their attorneys) sit down and work out their differences with the help of a neutral third party. Arbitration is a process, similar to court, wherein the parties present evidence to another neutral party (not a judge) and that party makes a decision regarding their dispute much like a judge would in their case.

At Meriwether & Tharp, we strongly believe in the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms because they are much more affordable than the courts, they are almost always much quicker than the courts, and they allow the parties to carefully resolve disputes in ways that are favorable to both parties and are generally beyond the scope of what the courts are allowed to do. Mediation in particular allows the parties to craft their own solutions to their differences.

Mediation is a non-binding process wherein the parties are free to explore different settlement options without the negotiations being admissible in court. Only when the parties are able to reach a settlement do the terms of the settlement become binding on both parties. While many people are reluctant to utilize this system, its results speak for themselves and it is surprising how effective it is resolving cases where sometimes both the parties themselves and their attorneys were unable to do so before.

Arbitration also has its merits. By allowing the parties to choose a third party that is knowledgeable in divorce and family law matters, they can often have decision makers that are more familiar with divorce and family law matters. Perhaps more importantly to the parties, arbitration allows the parties to carefully craft their own discovery parameters and trial timeline that achieves the same (if not better) results than courts in substantially less time.