Join | Member Login
Arlington (VA) Chamber of Commerce | Arlington, VA 22201
  • Membership
    • Membership Benefits
    • Join Now!
    • Chamber Assisted Grand Openings
    • Chamber Member Retirement Program
    • ShopChamber
    • Advertising >
      • Website Ads
      • E-Newsletter Ads
    • Arlingtonopoly
    • Century Club
    • Committees
    • LeadShare
    • Annual Corporate Sponsors
    • Member Login
  • Business Directory
  • Events
    • Chamber Calendar
    • Community Calendar >
      • Submit a Community Event
    • Signature Events >
      • Arlington Business Gala
      • Hospitality Awards
      • AWE Women in Business Summit
      • Arlington Chamber Volunteer Day
      • Best Business Awards
      • State of the County & Public Safety Awards
      • Annual Meeting
    • Advocacy Events >
      • Legislative Breakfast
      • NOVA Elected Leaders Summit
      • County Board Candidate Forum
    • Networking Events >
      • Breakfast Connection
      • Business After Business
      • Women in Business
      • Young Professionals Happy Hour
    • Educational Events >
      • Chamber 101
      • Small Business Roundtable
  • Community
    • Arlington Restaurant Week
    • Employer Resources
    • Coupons
    • Job Board
    • Job Shadow Day
    • Travel
    • Foundation
    • Scholarship Fund
    • About Arlington >
      • Business Resources
      • Map of the Area
      • Visiting Arlington
  • Business Advocacy
    • Public Policy Positions
    • Arlington Advocacy >
      • Budget & Taxes
      • Planning
      • Project Support
      • Economic Development
      • Processes
      • Retail & Signage
      • Transportation
    • Virginia Advocacy >
      • Budget & Taxes
      • Transportation
      • Economic Development
      • Other Topics
    • Recent Advocacy
  • About the Chamber
    • 100th Anniversary
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff Directory
    • Chamber In The News
    • Strategic Plan
    • FAQs
    • Publications >
      • Publications (2011 - 2024)
    • Press Releases
    • Contact Us
  • Membership
    • Membership Benefits
    • Join Now!
    • Chamber Assisted Grand Openings
    • Chamber Member Retirement Program
    • ShopChamber
    • Advertising >
      • Website Ads
      • E-Newsletter Ads
    • Arlingtonopoly
    • Century Club
    • Committees
    • LeadShare
    • Annual Corporate Sponsors
    • Member Login
  • Business Directory
  • Events
    • Chamber Calendar
    • Community Calendar >
      • Submit a Community Event
    • Signature Events >
      • Arlington Business Gala
      • Hospitality Awards
      • AWE Women in Business Summit
      • Arlington Chamber Volunteer Day
      • Best Business Awards
      • State of the County & Public Safety Awards
      • Annual Meeting
    • Advocacy Events >
      • Legislative Breakfast
      • NOVA Elected Leaders Summit
      • County Board Candidate Forum
    • Networking Events >
      • Breakfast Connection
      • Business After Business
      • Women in Business
      • Young Professionals Happy Hour
    • Educational Events >
      • Chamber 101
      • Small Business Roundtable
  • Community
    • Arlington Restaurant Week
    • Employer Resources
    • Coupons
    • Job Board
    • Job Shadow Day
    • Travel
    • Foundation
    • Scholarship Fund
    • About Arlington >
      • Business Resources
      • Map of the Area
      • Visiting Arlington
  • Business Advocacy
    • Public Policy Positions
    • Arlington Advocacy >
      • Budget & Taxes
      • Planning
      • Project Support
      • Economic Development
      • Processes
      • Retail & Signage
      • Transportation
    • Virginia Advocacy >
      • Budget & Taxes
      • Transportation
      • Economic Development
      • Other Topics
    • Recent Advocacy
  • About the Chamber
    • 100th Anniversary
    • Board of Directors
    • Staff Directory
    • Chamber In The News
    • Strategic Plan
    • FAQs
    • Publications >
      • Publications (2011 - 2024)
    • Press Releases
    • Contact Us

ChAmber Blog

Divorce and Your Business Part II: Make Love, Not War

4/22/2015

0 Comments

 
by James Korman, Shareholder, Bean, Kinney & Korman, P.C. 

Not every divorce has to be a nuclear war. Going to court is always an option. But it is expensive, stressful, slow and at the end a judge who doesn’t know you or your spouse is going to make a decision that can affect the rest of your life, not to mention your business and your fortune. Should court be a last resort rather than a first choice?  Is there an alternative? Absolutely.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”) is the trial of the new millennium. Nowadays, I have ADR in more cases than not.

What is alternative dispute resolution? As the name suggests, it is an alternative to going to court to resolve your issues. ADR is often the first choice to resolve disputes related to a divorce. The most common types of ADR are mediation, neutral case evaluation, collaboration and arbitration.

In most cases, these are voluntary. Both parties have to agree to participate.  

Neutral Case Evaluation (“NCE”)

An experienced and impartial professional, usually a divorce lawyer or a judge, looks at a summary of the facts and issues in the case with supporting documents.  The summaries are prepared by the parties’ lawyers. In addition, each party usually gives the Neutral Case Evaluator any settlement offers that may have already been shared with the other side, and as yet undisclosed confidential settlement proposals.  

The NCE can then offer his/her opinions about how realistic each party’s positions are. Sometimes parties do not believe what their own lawyer is telling them. But when an experienced neutral person tells them their position is unrealistic, there should be a better chance to move closer to settlement.  

Mediation

Mediation is the most frequently employed ADR method in divorce cases. The parties hire a mediator, although some courts will provide mediators without charge. The mediator is generally an experienced judge or lawyer. Occasionally parties might employ a mental health professional to mediate issues involving custody of children and other parenting issues. The mediator doesn’t decide the issues. His/her job is to get the parties to “yes”. Often, the mediator will evaluate each party’s respective positions on various issues.  Why else would you employ a mediator who is an expert?

It is customary to give the mediator an advance statement of each party’s position and to designate the issues that have to be mediated.  You can mediate with or without counsel present.        

On the day selected for the mediation, the mediator, the parties and their attorneys assemble. Usually, the mediator will shuttle back and forth between the two parties and see if the gap between their respective positions can be bridged. There can be no settlement of any issue unless both parties agree to terms on that issue.  

It is advisable, to say the least, to memorialize in writing any agreements that are reached at mediation, and do it then and there. Delay can undo everything that everyone worked so hard to resolve. 
Before signing an agreement, I always say to my clients, “You have to be okay with this deal five days from now, five months from now and five years from now.”  

Collaboration

The parties sign contracts with lawyers who are certified in Collaborative Practice. The contract commits the lawyers to work with the parties to settle the case. If the case does not settle, the collaborative lawyers will not represent you in court. You will each have to retain another lawyer to handle that. At a collaborative session, the parties and their counsel work on settling the case with the assistance of financial advisors, mental health professionals, accountants or whatever experts might be able to help. At collaborative sessions the advice attorneys give, which you might expect to be confidential, is openly shared with all present.  

Again, the goal is for the parties to reach a written agreement resolving their issues.  

Arbitration

An arbitrator is in essence a judge you pay. So why wouldn’t you go to trial and use a judge the state pays? With arbitration you can choose your judge, you can choose your schedule and the proceeding is private. While arbitration is not a court trial, it is not a negotiation. Formal rules of evidence may be more relaxed, but it is essentially a trial. Both sides offer their testimony and evidence, both sides argue their case and the arbitrator decides the case.

Conclusion

With ADR, you get control over the schedule, privacy, input and flexibility. If you go to trial, the judge makes his/her decision, and that’s it.  If you don’t like it, all you can do is appeal. More expense, more delay, more stress.  

With ADR, if someone makes a settlement proposal, you can suggest another approach or fine tune certain terms.

For example, one party can offer to give up the equity in the house in exchange for his/her interest in the business. By contrast, a trial judge is likely to order the house sold and the proceeds divided.  Neither party will have the house. 
​
If ADR doesn’t resolve everything, you can still resort to the courts, if you have to. Ultimately, how you choose to proceed is up to you.
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    The mission of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce is to strengthen businesses and the economic environment for those who work, live and do business in Arlington.
    Picture
    Contribute to the blog!
    Educate the Chamber membership and Arlington business community by writing a post for our blog! To get started download the blog guidelines and blog template. For questions and more information, contact the Communications Manager.

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    RSS Feed

© Copyright 2025 Arlington Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.
2009 14th Street, North  | Suite 100 | Arlington, VA 22201 | Directions
Tel (703) 525-2400 | [email protected]
MemberClicks
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Home | ​Join Now | Site Map