(I am happy to introduce my first guest blogger, Marcie D. Cooper. Marcie is a geriatric care manager with several advanced degrees and licenses, such as an MSW, LCSW, and C-ASWCM. She is the owner of her own care management company, aptly named Marcie Cooper Care Manager, LLC, located in Fair Lawn, NJ. I have.. read more →

A part of my practice involves mediation and collaborative legal practice. Both mediation and collaborative practice are dispute resolution techniques used as a alternative to litigation to settle a dispute. I believe that settlement, which is a product of mutual agreement, is almost always better than litigation. Settlement involves the principal of self-determination. That is,.. read more →

New Jersey Lawyer (NJL), the official newspaper of the New Jersey Bar, recently took a look ahead to describe the practice of law in New Jersey in the future. The newspaper’s focus was on how the practice of law will change in the coming decade. To describe the future of the law in New Jersey,.. read more →

THE GOAL OF DIVORCE MEDIATION: A “GOOD” DIVORCE A “good” divorce accomplishes 3 objectives: Legal Divorce – ends the marriage or civil union within a reasonable time of the decision to divorce, without high legal fees that drain the family’s finances, and with a minimum of acrimony and fighting. Economic Divorce – separates the marital.. read more →

I had my first experience with internet radio on July 1st when I was interviewed live on the Focus On Seniors Radio program on wsRadio.com, Internet Radio | Internet Talk Radio Shows, on the subject of Elder Mediation. The title of the program is “What are the benefits of elder mediation?” The program guide described.. read more →

A recent article in the Lawyers USA newspaper discussed the growing use of elder mediation to resolve family disputes. The article quoted several practitioners of elder mediation, including the owner of this weblog, on their practice specialties and the use of elder mediation as part of an elder law practice when family disagreements arise. One.. read more →

The June 6, 2008 edition of the Wall Street Journal included an interesting article entitled “Separate Peace.” It espoused the benefits of divorce mediation and collaborative divorce, particularly where children were involved. Although the article criticized the approach of “normalizing” divorce found in both mediation and collaborative divorce, which the author believed could lead couples.. read more →

NJBIZ is a weekly magazine covering business news in New Jersey. In the May 5, 2008 edition of NJBIZ, the top 25 mediators in the Business/Commercial practice areas were identified by the publication. The selections were based on the total number of cases mediated. I am proud to report that I was rated No. 20.. read more →

As I’ve written on other occasions, as life spans increase, the prospects for sibling squabbles over Mom and Dad grow more likely. One growing trend: custody battles involving adult children fighting over where their elderly parents should live, who should care for them and who should control the finances. These family squabbles have given rise.. read more →

Our office offers Collaborative Divorce services. In a Collaborative Divorce, each of the spouses and their attorneys sign an agreement committing themselves to resolving the issues in the divorce without going to court. The agreement also provides that if either spouse decides to litigate the case in court, both of the attorneys will withdraw from.. read more →

Members of the Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey will present an informative workshop entitled “Bioethical Decision-Making: Conflict Resolution in Health Care” at the annual conference of the National Association of Social workers (NASW) to be held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City from May 4-6, 2008. Social Workers will earn 4 continuing.. read more →

The Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey, a collaborative alliance comprised of independent mediators, attorneys, geriatric care managers and other eldercare professionals, is proud to announce the opening of its practice center as of March 1, 2008. The Elder Mediation Center of New Jersey provides efficient, knowledgeable, affordable alternate dispute resolution services designed to resolve.. read more →