We have all seen it.  The parties separate, and decide they want to spend the rest of their lives apart.  Each party gets their own attorney.  The first attorney is generally efficient, cost-effective, and gives his client honest advice about how to best strategize and move the case forward.  The second attorney does the same thing.  The first party, however, doesn’t get their financials completed on time.  The second party’s attorney files a motion with the court, to “compel” the disclosure of documents.  The first attorney files a response.  The second party accuses the other side of withholding financial disclosures.  The first party accuses the other side of filing a motion unnecessarily.  At this point both parties have a larger than expected legal bill, and both parties feel like they have reason to ask the court for an award of attorney’s fees.  Before you know it, the case becomes harder to settle, because the issue of attorney’s fees has become a “deal-breaker” issue for both sides.  The case won’t settle quickly, which means the parties get closer to going to hearing, which means both sides have to spend more money on discovery and experts just to get ready for the hearing.  And so on.

This is just one of the many scenarios in which cases become wildly out of control and get overly expensive, only to result in the parties digging in their heels and becoming more entrenched in their own positions, making the case even harder to settle down the road.  And the entire marital estate is drained away and into the attorneys’ bank accounts.

At the Attorneys of Highlands Ranch, we believe the ultimate goal in a divorce case is an efficient resolution through mediation that both parties can control and be satisfied with.  Please contact Heidi Town today to schedule your mediation.