Mediation: Truce Or Friction?
When conflict can't be resolved through direct negotiations, we seek to resolve conflict in a way that gives you, rather than a judge or arbitrator, control of your future.

Mediation costs a fraction of the time and expense needed to prepare and participate in an arbitration or trial. It is private. And the parties themselves determine the outcome. For these reasons, our clients are increasingly rejecting the traditional courtroom or arbitration in favor of mediation.

In a typical mediation session, parties come together voluntarily to find a workable resolution to their differences. There is no judge present to impose a decision. Instead, a skilled mediator, serving as a neutral, facilitates negotiations by conducting both joint and private discussions with the parties. Each side trusts the mediator with confidential information enabling the mediator to understand what will and what will not work if litigation is to be avoided.

The concept of litigation avoidance is especially important in family law cases when children are involved because parents who litigate usually find it difficult, if not impossible, to communicate after litigation.

Because most problems are in large part people problems, it is the mediator's style that leads to mutually acceptable outcomes. Bob Mayer and Fred Glassman have that style and experience and serve as court-appointed mediators and private mediators. MAYER & GLASSMAN can also serve as your advocate representing clients in mediation with a special emphasis in business, real estate and family law.

Fred Glassman has written and spoken about how to be an effective family law mediator for local and national bar associations. Bob Mayer conducts classes in various U.S. cities for accountants wanting to become mediators.

Collaborative Law: Waging Peace
The collaborative law approach to family law issues

Collaborative law is a cutting-edge alternative to litigation, arbitration, and mediation. MAYER & GLASSMAN is a leader for engaging in the collaborative law model. Fred Glassman frequently speaks about collaborative law to professional groups and associations throughout the United States and appears on public service television programming.

At the outset, the parties and their attorneys formally agree to negotiate in good faith without going to court and to exchange all information regarding assets, liabilities, income and expenses, and such other information as is necessary to achieve resolution.

Unlike mediation, there is no third-party neutral who facilitates negotiation by guiding the parties through the process. Instead, collaborative law practice calls for face-to-face meetings with you, your spouse and the parties' lawyers. These sessions are designed to produce an honest exchange of information and expression of needs and expectations. The collaborative law philosophy is that when issues are openly discussed, problem solving can be direct and solutions-oriented.

When needed, the parties jointly engage neutral collaborating advisors such as accountants, child development therapists, actuaries, tax consultants, estate planners, financial planners and others. These experts, who are trained in the collaborative law process, give their objective opinion based on information provided to them.

The collaborative law process is energized by the understanding that if either spouse later decides to litigate rather than reach a non-litigated agreement, the attorneys must withdraw from the case and help their respective clients make an orderly transfer to their new attorney.

When children are involved, lifelong responsibilities remain. Collaborative law practice helps parents and children keep family bonds while embracing new lives.

The collaborative law approach to business law issues

Collaborative law practice is equally efficient and effective when dealing with the dissolution of many types of business relationships.

General Litigation
Movement is not necessarily progress. Knowing when you need to use the law and knowing when using the law won't significantly advance your case helps keep litigation costs under control. An ongoing cost/benefit analysis better assures that you'll receive value for each billable hour.