these cases are not appropriate for mediation. Mediation is a voluntary process, predicated on full disclosure of all financial information to which everyone would be entitled as part of the legal process. Thus, if a party is not being truthful or cannot be trusted to make full disclosure of assets, that case is also not appropriate for mediation. During your years of practising family law, how have you seen the implementation of mediation and ADR change? Mediation and ADR are becoming ubiquitous. In some jurisdictions, mediation is a mandated first step in matrimonial cases. I serve as a mediator on several different court rosters of mediators for family law matters here in New York City. While not mandatory, many judges will refer cases to mediation before they address the substantive issues in the courtroom. Due both to court backlogs that necessitate a mechanism for moving cases, and the fact that court is not a great place to resolve family disputes, mediation and ADR are becoming an increasingly preferred method for resolving family law matters. Personally, I am pleased to see the growing demand for mediation, given the upside for family relationships and the principles of empathy and compassion that are at its core. practice. Courts tend to be more like King Solomon; they split things in half, whether bank accounts or parenting time. When family law matters do go to court, most cases are settled before trial. So, no matter the process, the outcome is likely to be a negotiated agreement. The difference is in how you get there. There is evidence that agreements reached through mediation yield better results for families, with non-residential parents staying more involved in their children’s lives than in litigated cases. How do the costs and amount of time taken also differ between these methods? Litigation of any kind is very expensive, so in addition to a more cooperative process having the potential to be a more pleasant experience, it will likely be less expensive. Under what circumstances may mediation or other forms of ADR not be appropriate for resolving a family law matter? There are definitely cases in which mediation is not appropriate. Mediators are trained to screen out cases where there is a significant power imbalance or a history of domestic violence as 72 LAWYER MONTHLY AUGUST 2023 About Sarah Hechtman Sarah Hechtman serves as counsel at Rower LLC and has been a matrimonial and family law attorney for more than 15 years. She gained valuable litigation experience as a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office, where she specialised in cases involving domestic violence and sex crimes, and as a civil rights lawyer prosecuting class action cases on behalf of children. She has extensive training as a mediator and mediates matrimonial cases for the court system, as well as privately. She is a member of the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals, a certified parenting coordinator and an adjunct professor at Pace Law School, where she teaches a course on psychology and law. About Rower LLC Rower LLC is a New York law firm dedicated to matrimonial and family law. The firm is committed to working with empathy to recognise their clients’ needs and with strength to meet those needs. Rower LLC has a skilled litigation practice for cases that require it, as well as an equally skilled practice devoted to avoiding litigation through negotiation, mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, as well as intelligently crafted prenuptial and postnuptial agreements. Contact Sarah B. Hechtman Counsel, Rower LLC 419 Park Avenue South, 18FL, New York, NY 10016, USA Tel: +1 646-437-7627 E: sarahb@rowerllc.com www.rowerllc.com Courts tend to be more like King Solomon; they split things in half, whether bank accounts or parenting time.
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