Family Law

Family law has been governed by the adversarial process. This process is geared to produce a winner and a loser. In divorce and child custody cases, the process has increased tensions between the parties, tensions that do not go away after the court process is completed.

States have begun to explore non-adversarial alternatives, including family mediation. Court systems are also experimenting with more informal procedures for handling family law cases, in hopes of diffusing the emotions of the parties.