Marion Joy Frank

Marion Frank

My heart goes out to you. You wrote this 2 years ago and I just saw this. I understand you are now working with your 5th attorney, and you are entrenched in very expensive, public, contentious litigation as of April 2015. . You called our office for help in between attorneys after you wrote this. As your former attorney/mediator it would be unethical for me to assist you without returning to mediation with both you and your wife as well. It is true that I am detailed and require that both parties act in good faith to disclose all finances as required by law. Unlike litigation where parties battle, look to blame and are out to "get" each other, (which you have been experiencing for over two years) mediation is meant to be a private, collaborative process which follows court guidelines, helps parties to fulfill their fiduciary duties, and requires honesty and fairness. It actually wastes time and money if parties hide assets (requiring subpoenas of bank accounts, etc) attack each other, come to meetings unprepared, refuse to sign stipulations already pre-approved by all, and in act in bad faith. When mediation clients act cooperatively, voluntarily provide important documents in a timely manner, act respectfully to one another (without the need for one party to file a TRO against the other), the fees are lower, privacy is maintained, the process is quicker and less stressful, and the parties and their children can move on positively in their lives. It is my heartfelt desire for all my clients to forgive the past, heal their conflicts, get a fair outcome, grow from the process, and move on happily. I am sorry for you that you originally filed in June of 2012 and it's almost three years and you are still in litigation. I am sure that you now recognize that mediation was much less expensive than the court battle. You are still fighting an expensive, stressful proceeding in court. Both you and your wife deserve to move on positively. People in divorce are angry with their situation and their spouse, and if they don't get all that they want they are angry with their mediator or attorneys. You are a very astute professional and deserve happiness in your professional and with your significant other and baby. My hope for you and your wife is that you will let go of the bitterness you have toward your wife and the lawyers, and consider being collaborative so you can finally come up with a mutually acceptable agreement. You both are wasting your hard earned money on a battle that hurts you both. You say in this headnote- that you can't imagine it being any worse? Well I looked at the public court record, and it has gotten much much worse, as now your case was also assigned to a new Judge in January and you have terminated five lawyers. As you know, I made myself available to you to answer your calls on weekends and when you wanted to buy your new residence, I convinced your spouse to allow you to do that without a court battle, so you could do so in a timely manner. Now that you are continuing in this public process, your personal and financial privacy is exposed . Mediation is the only forum that protects your privacy. Perhaps you and your spouse may wish to consider asking your lawyers to bring the case to another mediator to finally end the pain of this dissolution . I wish the best for you both- underneath the pain and hostility you are both very good people.