Attorney Fields Speaking on Family Law Mediation in Wellesley

Fields and Dennis, LLP is pleased to announce that Jonathan Fields will be speaking on the topic of “Mediation Challenges for the Family Law Practitioner” in Wellesley on April 8th. He, along with Kate Fanger, Esq. and Ellen Waldorf, Esq., will be presenting on behalf of the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation (MCFM) at the…

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Mediation for Families

Mediation is a tool that can be invaluable to families. At Fields and Dennis, we are well-versed in all aspects of Family Law, and we often turn to mediation as an agreeable and less distressing means to an end.  There are many ways that mediation can benefit families at various stages of life. From divorce to estate planning and everything in between, mediation can be an…

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Case Law Updates from Family Mediation Quarterly, October 2013

PC Agreement Held Enforceable. A recent Appeals Court decision held that an agreement to use a parenting coordinator (PC) was enforceable, even where one party does not want to use one anymore. The father had sought the appointment of a new PC after the PC’s initial one-year term ended; the Probate and Family Court judge…

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Family Mediation Quarterly: President’s Letter

Dear Mediators: The most recent professional development meeting, “Collaborative Law and Mediation Tools and Techniques: A Common Ground” was a product of the joint committee of the MCFM and the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council chaired by our own Lynn Cooper.  The panelists, in addition to Lynn, were Dan Finn, Kate Fanger, Karen Levitt, and Lisa…

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Marriage Foundation Recommends Mediation

“Judges do not traditionally speak out about the social issues that manifest themselves in their courts,” wrote Lesley Garner, Telegraph journalist and former advice columnist. So it’s somewhat surprising that Sir Paul Coleridge, a senior family court judge in the UK founded the Marriage Foundation, a campaign that promotes, among other things, mediation prior to…

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Mediation Outcome: Not a Reflection of Self-Worth

A provocative new law journal article deconstructs the psychodynamics of the mediation / negotiation process.  Professional mediators certainly understand, if only instinctively, the primacy of ego, self-esteem, and self-identity in any mediation; but the piece articulates a framework and diagnostic that even experienced mediators may find useful. Essentially, the author, Elizabeth Bader, posits that there…

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