Why is Litigation So Slow?
It’s really slow.
Let’s use an example to explore why litigation takes so much time: Imagine you are getting divorced and you have two children. If you hire an attorney, they will file a Petition or Response to initiate the case or respond to the other person’s filing.
Then, they will file a request for Temporary Orders asking the court to make an order how custody of the kids and support will be handled until a final Judgment is entered. That first hearing will likely happen within about ninety days, but it can take longer. In the meantime, your attorney will spend time trying to reach an agreement about those temporary orders with your spouse’s attorney - meaning as a couple you are paying the fees of two attorneys to talk to each other for you.
The attorneys will also help you preparing your Preliminary Disclosures which will outline your income, assets and debts - another project that takes several hours of billable attorney time. After you receive temporary orders, your attorney will prepare the order and send it to your spouse’s attorney for approval - another hour or more of attorney time paid by each party.
There will be several Family Resolution Conferences, which will require time to travel to and attend. It can take a year or more to get a Mandatory Settlement Conference (MSC) scheduled. Your attorney will spend numerous hours laying out your position for how to settle the case in a lengthy brief and submit that to the judge. At the MSC, you will sit down with your attorney, your spouse, and your spouse’s attorney and work out a deal to settle the case.
If you can’t reach a deal at that time, your case will be set for trial - which can take several months to prepare for and several days of time in the courtroom. If you do reach an agreement, it will be turned into a Stipulated Order and later into the final Judgment containing the ultimate resolution of your case.
Mediation offers an alternative. Does that process sound overwhelming to you? Us too, which is why we recommend couples take their cases to mediation instead of litigating. The mediation process is simple, straightforward, effective, and affordable. It goes like this:
Schedule a consultation.
Send us your documents (we will tell you what you need).
Attend mediation. We recommend at least three sessions.
Approve your agreement.
Sign & file.
You can get started today. Contact us info@cordiallaw.com
Don’t think mediation will work for you? See what else Cordial has to offer.