What Exactly Is Alternative Dispute Resolution?

Legal Dictionary

ADR - Function: abbreviation; alternative dispute resolution

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

It used to be that things were fairly simple. If you had a legal dispute, you went to a local attorney to find out your rights. You and your attorney reviewed the law and the facts and you took your best shot in court. The idea was that the proper use of the evidence, a good attorney and a court of law would sort it out and justice would be done.

Then the court dockets became clogged. Good attorneys became too costly for the average person. Your day in court became a half day squeezed in between nine other cases on the docket. Your attorney tells you to try mediation or arbitration to save on costs; or the court orders you to mediation before you can appear before the judge. Worse, you go before a judge for the fourth time because your ex didn't bring the kids back on time and the judge orders you to see a parenting coordinator. A parenting what?

This article discusses some of the popular alternative dispute solutions being used by attorneys, the courts, businesses and private individuals. There is no "right" model for everyone. Some solutions are permanent, some are flexible, some you need an attorney and many you can do yourself.

ARBITRATION

Arbitration is not a new concept and it is not just for sports teams. It has been used by state agencies for many years with varying degrees of success. Corporations began turning to it more than 100 years ago, and merchants have been using it all over the world for thousands of years.It is gaining popularity today because it reduces costs, is faster and less formal than court proceedings, it reduces the need for litigation attorneys, and you get a say in who hears your case. Some arbitration consist of a panel of three arbitrators and others have only one. Often, you can choose from a list of arbitrators or a recommendation by an attorney or associate.

Probably the most common place you find arbitration in the private sector in Florida is condo associations and HOAs, labor, or contract disputes. Arbitration can be binding or non-binding and many contracts have arbitration clauses that must be satisfied before traditional litigation can occur.

Arbitration is the most formal of the modern ADR methods for resolving disputes. For example, if you decide to have one arbitrator, that individual will hold a hearing just as if you went to a regular court. However, the rules in arbitration are very different than those you may have seen in a courtroom, while still providing you with a formal hearing process. Attorneys are welcome, but not required. However, because arbitration can be binding, and your appeal options may be limited, attorneys are strongly recommended.

There are several benefits to arbitrating your dispute. First, as previously mentioned, you have a say in who hears your case rather than being randomly assigned by a judge. Second, arbitration shortens the time frame, for your case. It allows you to schedule your case rather than having to work around the court's calendar. Third, the procedures, formalities, rules of evidence and the conduct of the hearing are all designed to be more relaxed than a court room. Next, when you schedule your witnesses you don't have to repeatedly inconvenience them if court is running behind. If your witness takes a day off, a good arbitrator will try to schedule the time to make sure they get into the hearing. Another benefit is getting a decision quickly. Florida law requires that any court-referred arbitration render a decision within 10 days after the hearing unless there are special circumstances.

PARENTING COORDINATION

Next in formality is parenting coordination. This is a specialized process that is fairly new to Florida courts and, I hope a great idea for other jurisdictions. Everyone has heard of the family court cases that keep going back to court over and over again. Parenting coordinators are specially trained individuals that are assigned to tough cases to help parents and the courts create working solutions to ongoing parenting issues. Right now, almost all parenting coordination in Florida is done by court order and the parties have to be able to pay for the services. Attorneys are not permitted in the actual session, but the parties continue to have access to their attorney.

There are several benefits to parenting coordination that are not available to most family court cases. First, the Parenting Coordinator ("PC") gets to know you and your unique family situation and issues over a longer period of time. There is no magic formula to make people get along better after a break up or divorce, but the PC can use many forms of dispute resolution to assist struggling families to comply with court orders and try to keep the process focused on the best interest of the children, as determined by the court.

It is not an easy process, but it has proven very effective since the start of the program just a few years ago. It uses traditional methods, court support, mediation, collaborative efforts, facilitation, and other resources to try to keep the family on track.

MEDIATION

Mediation is being used in the vast majority of cases today because it is so effective and you get to help create the agreement rather than being ordered by a judge to comply with a decision. Mediators work with you to help you find solutions to your issues on your terms and according to your schedule. The concept is simple: no judge will ever know you or your situation better than you know it. Having a trained mediator helps you negotiate what you believe is the right solution for you, for your family, for your situation, for your outcomes. Mediation can also save thousands of dollars in costly litigation and months or years of time completing your case. Mediation is not the same as compromise. It is a unique set of solutions designed by you, agreed to by you, in cooperation with your opponent without having to drag each other through lengthy litigation, hard feelings and "traditional" solutions that just don't work for your life. It can be court ordered, or it can be done privately either before or after filing a lawsuit, and can be done with or without an attorney. For example, many people today are using "compassionate" divorce mediation techniques that work with couples contemplating divorce without the hard feelings and costs of traditional divorce. A growing trend is couples seeking mediators before seeking attorneys, although the "jury is still out" about whether this will work in the long run. "Collaborative divorces" are also increasing in frequency, where the attorneys act as mediator and attorney, but only time will tell if this model will hold up to ethical and conflict issues.

FACILITATION

Finally, there is facilitation. This is often used in corporate settings or where several people need to work together to brainstorm ideas, solutions or projects. A good model for facilitation is a moderated brainstorming session. These programs are exciting, exhilarating, creative and have lasting effects on all participants. They open the door to tremendous growth, and facilitation is an outstanding morale booster for companies seeking to improve communications and productivity across departments or platforms. In a family setting it can be used to incorporate extended families and caregivers, and to promote cooperation and joint problem solving,

I hope this helps you better understand some of the alternative dispute solutions available to you. If you would like more information, you can contact Lyndy at her blog at Collaborative Solutions, P.A.

Lyndy is a regular contributing author for several websites and blogs.

She is new to Ezine but her submissions include articles on books, book reviews, recipes, law, arbitration, mediation, gourmet foods, coffee and chocolate and politics. She is an attorney in Florida and New York and she is an arbitrator, mediator and facilitator for the courts and private companies. You can read some of her other articles at Collaborative Solutions, P.A.

Lyndy writes the "Aspirations" column for self help, personal and professional growth and she interviews and features many prominent authors and motivational authors and speakers. She is also a main contributing author to the columns "Legal Ease" for law students and professionals and "Board Room" for business, restructuring and business promotion. Her legal blog posts articles and resources for all types of alternative dispute resolutions including parenting coordination, mediation, facilitation and arbitration.

View the original article here

What Exactly Does An Estate Planning Attorney Do?

When deciding whether or not to hire an estate planning attorney, it is important to know exactly what they do and what services they have to offer. These proceedings are undertaken as a means of legally and formally preparing for future life and after-life. This can include protection of assets, health, power of attorney and much, much more. Estate lawyers and their firms work with respect to your post-life planning, while keeping you involved and informed along the way. There are several important decisions to make regarding where all of these items will go.

These professionals know the ins and outs of the court system so that all paperwork is fulfilled completely and on time. There is a formal process for carrying this legal documentation through the court system, which experienced estate attorneys will fully understand and can simplify into terms their clients can appreciate.

Estate Attorneys Take Planning To The Next Level

An experienced lawyer knows and understands all that is required so that your assets are completely protected in the case of illness or even death. Hiring an estate planning attorney that has completed cases like yours before can also speed-up the process and reduce the learning curve. Nobody wishes to spend months getting their information together should there be a serious accident in the future.

The complexity of most legal documentation is why ninety-five percent of individuals hire estate lawyers for their paperwork. Most do not wish to face the possibility of losing assets, including that of money and belongings, due to miscommunication or lack of knowledge of court procedures. All of these items are specific to each specialist, due to the work it took to acquire the knowledge. Speak to several professionals prior to hiring the one you and your family feels best suits your needs.

What Types Of Situations Do These Professionals Handle?

The types of cases that these particular legal professionals take on is completely dependent on the firm, their availability and their willingness to take on a particular planning situation. Working on the fine details of a life and after-life planning day in and day out can easily and quickly become a full time job. Therefore, it is often necessary for most of us to hand-off the responsibility to someone who can put their complete effort into it.

It's important to note that these proceedings are also an ever-changing legal process. What was legal and protective one year may have changed due to federal or state regulations the year after. To fulfill all paperwork and legal notations required can take anywhere from a few short days or weeks before everything is complete. Be patient and understand that good legal work does take time and proper filings.

What Types Of Suits Do They Not Handle?

Small suits regarding items such as traffic tickets, small family disputes and other such situations are normally taken on by general practice lawyers. For professional assistance in asset protection, contact your local estate planning attorney for valuable answers to your questions.

Peck Bloom's experienced estate attorneys in Chicago specialize in elder law and estate planning. Choose estate lawyers in Chicago that can help you plan for your future. For advice and counseling from a professional estate planning attorney in Chicago, visit the firm's website.

View the original article here

What Exactly Is a Parenting Coordinator?

What is Parenting Coordination you ask? While it is tempting to give a quick definition based upon the Florida legislative vision of what it is supposed to be, the vitriol which some writers have heaped upon it requires a more in-depth answer.

When I returned to law school in my early forties, I was not going to law school because I didn't have anything to do at home. At the time, law school was one of the most highly competitive schools a young person could attempt and, it was a nearly impossible task for a change of lifer with a family, and a full set of grown up responsibilities. I went to law school to study Constitutional and Environmental law. I ended up practicing family, administrative and criminal law.

Family court is an interesting place to practice law. It is the place where the most important people in our lives, the very fabric of who we are, are affected by every decision, every action, and every failure to act. Kindness to your ex can be used against you and an agreement to modify the schedule for a special occasion may become a demand to modify it whenever and wherever it is demanded. It is a place where grandparents can become the enemy, and significant others give world wars an inferiority complex.

Parenting coordination in Florida was proposed several years before its eventual enactment. It was passed by the legislature, but vetoed by then Governor Jeb Bush. He believed the original concept granted too many powers to the parenting coordinator and not enough court supervision. The idea was modified several times, and there were many reports and committees working together to try to find a good balance for the parents, the children, the courts and the overall family structure while still protecting vital individual rights. It was signed into law by Governor Charlie Christ in 2009 and adopted by the Florida Supreme Court in 2010.

Florida Statutes: 61.125 states: "The purpose of parenting coordination is to provide a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process whereby a parenting coordinator assists the parents in creating or implementing a parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of disputes between the parents by providing education, making recommendations, and, with the prior approval of the parents and the court, making limited decisions within the scope of the court's order of referral." The statute clarifies that where there is a judgment or order in which a parenting plan has been established, that the parents can request, or the court can appoint, a parenting coordinator to assist the parents in resolving disputes concerning that parenting plan.

Okay...in English. If the court orders or adopts a parenting plan, and the parents can't seem to work together to carry out that plan, the court can appoint a parenting coordinator to help them. The court gives the parenting coordinator the authority to use many different resources to help the parents. The key words here are "court orders or adopts a parenting plan."

Parenting is a very hard job. Probably one of the hardest things we do in our lives. When there are two people working together to raise children, we have to face the challenges with a united front, or at least try. What happens when we can't do that? What happens when we decide to split up and try to raise the children together...apart? What happens to the grandparents? Who takes the kids to school? Who goes home from work when the kids get sick? What happens when we meet someone else and they become involved with the children?

All of these questions can lead to stress and tension even in the most amicable breakup. No one starts off believing that they will fight for 18 years over each child. But, sadly, it happens. It happens to good people who mean well, and who are trying to do the best they can, taking care of the children they love. It happens to people who have been ordered by a court to do things with their children that they don't want to do.

For years, the court system has tried to work with parents to fashion solutions that are in the best interest of the children. The court does the best it can with the information it is given. Unfortunately, that information is limited by time, the quality and/or presence of attorneys, and the individual sitting on the bench. Over the past 30 years mediation has gone far to assist parents and the courts in reaching more personalized solutions for individual families. For the majority of parents that system works.

Then there are the parents who cannot work together. Those who return to court again and again and again with disputes about the children, the new significant other, the grandparents, the choice of day care, when to take vacations, and hundreds of other issues that come up every day. That is where parenting coordination comes in.

Parenting coordination is a child-centered approach, and that means working with the parents to break the patterns, find solutions, and try to enhance communication between two people in a child-centered focus. Modern day courts are not equipped to quickly resolve issues that come up, and so the battles go on, sometimes for months, and the children and parents get caught in a pattern that just keeps repeating. Keep in mind that while all the fighting is going on, there is a court order. It is not a court "suggestion" and that can create new problems for parents and the children.

In Florida, parenting coordinators must be trained in psychology, psychiatry or law.* They must be familiar with family dynamics in a family court setting including domestic violence, child abuse issues, and they must be trained in family mediation. They must be able to work with families from all backgrounds.They must have thick skins and they must be willing to creatively use all the tools given to them by the courts and the legislature to help parents find methods, ideas and programs that put the children's needs first. They must be able to use their experience and knowledge of the system, the family court process and real issues dealing with intensely personal situations confronting parents and children. They must be able to think outside the box of traditional remedies that are never going to work for a particular set of people.

Parenting coordination is not for everyone. First, a court must make a determination that the parents can afford it. Contrary to some articles written on the subject, the rates are often set by the court and it is the court, not the parents, who decide how to divide the costs. Parenting coordination can last for weeks, months or years depending upon the parent's ability to comply with the court's orders. The court can periodically review the process and the parties always have access to their attorney. Traditional court remedies are available to parents, and to the parenting coordinator, and a judge retains authority over the case at all times. A court order determines what the parenting coordinator can do, and not do, and the legislature has set strict standards that must be followed. Confidentiality is strictly enforced except for specific situations set out in the statute.

Parenting coordination is usually ordered by the court after several disputes, and many appearances, that result in further disputes Parents can also proactively request a parenting coordinator to help them if the conflict in the relationship becomes too difficult, or if they find themselves returning to court many times for issues they just cannot seem to resolve on their own.

Parenting coordination is a process. It is not a mediation, where you go once or twice, sign an agreement and move forward - but mediation is a tool that can be used. It is not subject to arbitration because a real judge has already heard the issues, several times, and issued an order - although arbitration techniques are tools that can be used. It is not facilitation - although many supporting people such as doctors, extended family and counselors, can be brought in to brainstorm and develop personalized solutions. It is not psychology - although an understanding of psychology and family dynamics is a critical piece of the puzzle. It is not law - however, the parenting coordinator must have a working knowledge of law and procedure to help the participants comply with the court's order, or direct them to seek counsel when necessary. Parenting coordinators may not act as judges, or lawyers, or psychologists, or therapists but they must be able to see the whole picture from these perspectives. While doing all this, they must remain neutral and be willing to take steps necessary for the children, the courts and the parents to move the process along successfully.

It is not a program for the faint of heart or for the rookie. The legislature and the courts have set out stringent, detailed requirements and codes of professional conduct and they are strictly enforced for the protection of parents, and parenting coordinators.

Parenting coordination can be intensely rewarding for all concerned. There is no greater result than finding a path that leads to everyone being able to work together toward successfully raising children, and providing those children loving relationships with both parents wherever possible.

One caveat for those reading this article. There has been a great deal of criticism leveled regarding parenting coordination efforts and domestic violence. Domestic violence comes in many forms. It is not always obvious, or physical, and it is not something to take lightly. Parenting coordinators receive training in domestic violence, and for the most part, where domestic violence is a significant factor in the relationship, parenting coordination is not recommended. For a domestic violence case to be recommended to a parenting coordinator the courts are required to make specific findings, and obtain informed consent from all parties. There will be other articles on this site dealing with domestic violence, but it should be noted that courts cannot, under most circumstances, refer a case if domestic violence is ongoing.

Lyndy is a regular contributing author, founder and designer of three websites and she writes dozens of articles. She is new to Ezine but her submissions include articles on books, book reviews, recipes, law, arbitration, mediation, gourmet foods, coffee and chocolate and politics. She is an attorney in Florida and New York and she is an arbitrator, mediator and facilitator for the courts and private companies. You can read some of her other articles at Collaborative Solutions, PA and http:www.InspireMeBks.com.

Lyndy writes the "Aspirations" column for self help, personal and professional growth and she interviews and features many prominent authors and motivational authors and speakers. She is also a main contributing author to the columns "Legal Ease" for law students and professionals and "Board Room" for business, restructuring and business promotion. Her Collaborative Solutions blog posts features articles and resources for all types of alternative dispute resolutions including parenting coordination, mediation, facilitation and arbitration.

View the original article here

Just Exactly What Speeding Tickets Do To Your Demerit Points

Our status as a human being is sociologically monitored by our government. To get a hold of each and every one of us is to ensure that the other people have security for themselves from any potential threat from us. How they detect it is by way of keeping tabs on actions you take. For example, we all have an individual conduct for driving. This is deducted when we commit violations. Sometimes you wonder what speeding tickets do to your demerit points.

Just like school where conduct is observed, this specifically is just as well observed in one's particular behavior in the outside world. All violations had been discussed thoroughly during your driver's education course. However, not each and every one of us know exactly each specific detail from time to time. Sometimes we slip and we do not understand specifically what our case is.

Speeding is a natural violation committed by each and every driver. This exactly is quite unavoidable however. Even if any person's vehicle does pass the speed limit tests as it only exceeds the speeds at controllable rates, it is still unavoidable. The speeding tickets could easily reduce one's conduct to shattered fragments of a person's positive legal image.

How speeding tickets could affect you depend on what speeding limit have you broken. For example, if you had gone over a 16 to 30 km/h speed at a given territory, you are reduced 3. If you go over 30 to 49 km/h you get reduced four. If you go over 50 km/h or higher, you get reduced six. This really is also depending upon the nature of a person's violation as well.

Surely, you could get more reductions when you are found to be driving recklessly. This means that driving under the influence of alcohol is surely going to get you more than a reduction of six. Be aware that most authorities nowadays have alcohol detectors on one's breath. Once you have been found you could be ultimately revoked the license you have as soon as possible.

Seeing how any person's violations affect rating, sometimes it does seem a bit unfair on anyone's part. One's driving integrity is never supposedly tainted by their quantifiable conduct. The main problem as well is that you are never given a chance to get back what you lost. This is one reason why some companies provide help in fighting against some violations of this nature.

Companies use some logical reasoning and loopholes in most laws being upheld nowadays in the traffic court. While this system is claimed to be quite flawed by a lot of experts, it is not an illegal act. It is just the use of the legal terms set forth the by actual court themselves and these companies build up legal methods and steps to be able to address the issues carefully.

Remember what speeding tickets do to your demerit points. While there are companies who provide these services, some of them may just trick you over the internet. Being careful and driving safely for the concern of other drivers around you as well as your safety is always the better way to drive.

Getting Impaired Driving in Toronto on your driving record can have serious consequences. Find the right lawyers and former police officers to help fight DUI Ontario.

View the original article here