Where Negotiation Doesn’t Work, Litigation Might

By Nottage and Ward on December 21, 2012

As an experienced family law attorney with the Illinois law firm Nottage and Ward, Leslie Fineberg has worked with a wide variety of divorcing couples. Some may be able to negotiate a divorce settlement through mediation; some may fight constantly and go straight to litigation; and some actually find advantages to both. The issues surrounding negotiation and litigation can be complicated, but the ultimate goal is the same. You want to finalize your divorce and move on with your life.

Depending on your relationship with the spouse you are planning to divorce, you may find that coming to a divorce agreement will work best one way rather than another. While coming to an agreement yourselves in mediation is always better than having a divorce order decreed by a judge, it is not always possible for constantly feuding couples. But how do you know what will work best for you?

The following can provide you with a general idea of what types of relationships/situations work with what divorce options:

• If you and your spouse have a civil relationship, are not unreasonable people, and can maintain a conversation without resorting to the blame game, negotiating your divorce settlement through mediation would be your best option.
• If you and your spouse are in agreement about certain things but will not budge on others, then mediation may be used to get what you do agree on into the divorce agreement and then you may need to resort to litigation for the more contentious issues.
• If either you or your spouse is very bitter or angry about your situation and cannot speak to the other without getting angry or arguing, then mediation is probably not an option. You could try, but when there is a lot of hostility between two spouses, going to court is usually the only option.

Litigation is a longer and more complicated process than mediation, but if that is what it takes to help you move on with your life, then that is what needs to happen.

Leslie Fineberg and the rest of the legal team at Nottage and Ward can help you get through your divorce in whatever way best suits your circumstances and will work hard to obtain a divorce settlement in your best interests.