I came across an article by MSNBC talking about the relative benefits of mediation, collaborative law and going to court.
What struck me about the article was the comparative approach taken by the Boston Law Collaborative, which reviewed 199 of its files. The figures are in US dollars:
The firm analyzed 199 of its recent divorce cases, and found that mediation,
collaborative divorce and litigation all produced high rates of successful
settlement. Mediation was by far the least expensive option, with a median cost
of $6,600, compared to $19,723 for a collaborative divorce, $26,830 for
settlements negotiated by rival lawyers, and $77,746 for full-scale litigation.
2 comments:
The data is indeed interesting, but needs to be read carefully. There is a very small number of cases in the study and the lawyer on virtually all--perhaps all--the cases is the same person, David Hoffman, who had a long career as a mediator before adding collaborative practice to his work. There is no data for other practitioners, nor is there data for differences between working with a team vs working only as a lawyer. Not to diminish the value of the report, but it would be a mistake to generalize very far from it. Pauline Tesler
This is one of the cheapest option. This is how it is being done.
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