In California in 1981 mandatory mediation in child custody cases was brought in and the results have been a resounding success. The author of “The Mediation Miracle” noted a “profound shift away from the traditional adversarial  model of dispute resolution in family matters and towards a system that supports that private ordering of  these issues.” In California there are currently more than 400 full time mediators carrying out more that 100,000  mediations per year. Judge Edwards comments in his article that “evaluations through the years have demonstrated that a high percentage of cases reach settlement without trial resulting in reduced court workloads;that client satisfaction is high; and that children are well served” the author also notes that an increase in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods was inspired by the family mediation. Judge Leonard goes so far as to comment that the experience on some Juvenile courts is that mediation has had a positive impact on the court culture.

The Californian law in 1982 required parents to attempt mediation on issues of child custody or visitation before resorting to litigation or the courts.  My understanding is that if you wish to use the legal aid service in Cork for your family law work such as divorce or separation that you have to first attend mediation and get a certificate from the mediator that mediation has failed, before the matter is allocated to a solicitor. The reduction in legal costs by this alone must be huge, but of course there is also the savings human terms, helping family relationships. In California they increased the court fees in order part fund the mandated mediation, this was a very clever technique, they financially charged more to those who choose to use the courts services. When I was working as a solicitor I on many occasions came across clients who were paying privately for legal fees being brought to court repeatedly over minor issues or issues that could have been resolved elsewhere. Courts are unfortunately on occasion used as a tool to inflict distress on the former partner. This in my experience was particularly prevalent when one party qualified for legal aid and therefore have low or no legal fees. This was particularly so with district court applications in the family law.

In the article Judge Leonard Edwards acknowledges that there will always be litigation, as some parents will need a judge to make custody orders or other orders such as access or maintenance in family law. However Judge  Edwards comments “we know the orders that judges make after hearing evidence are not as effective or as long lasting as mediated agreements”

Susan Appelbe is a trained and experienced solicitor she now provides mediation services using her wealth of legal knowledge from her years as a solicitor on the south mall in Cork and later on the Lower Glanmire Road in cork and then in Bandon in West Cork. Susan works helping separating couples dividing their asserts, put parenting  plans in place,custody, access, maintenance, teenage mediation and dealing with the issues that arise in the lead up to a divorce in Ireland. Susan works mostly in the Munster area,in particular Cork, travelling all over the county to areas such as Youghal, Michelstown and Castletownbere. elsewhere in Muster Susan regularly works in Tipperary, Limerick, Waterford and Kerry.