NCJ Number
95513
Journal
Loyola Law Review Volume: 29 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1983) Pages: 55-90
Date Published
1983
Length
36 pages
Annotation
This comment traces the history of Louisiana's fault-based divorce laws, describing mediation and its advantages over the adversarial adjudicative process in resolving family law disputes; discusses the future of family mediation and the ethical dilemmas facing attorneys who practice mediation; and recommends changes in Louisiana's divorce laws.
Abstract
Divorce mediation, most often described as a nonadversary goal-directed, task-oriented, problemsolving process, aims at helping separating spouses to resolve, in a mutually acceptable fashion, the conflicts revolving around the issues of spousal and child support, custody, visitation, and division of marital property. For family mediation to be successful, both spouses must agree to work out their differences and formulate a settlement. The mediator helps the couple to define and clarify the issues, facilitating the process of identifying and creating mutually acceptable options. The intermediary manages the discussion and keeps the participants focused on the negotiation of an equitable settlement. The proposed final draft of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct answers some of the ethical questions raised by lawyer divorce mediators, yet it fails to address the responsibilities of the lawyer/mediator. The legislature, the judiciary, the bar association, and the law schools should play active and significant roles in the establishment and implementation of nonadversary mechanisms. A total of 254 footnotes are provided.