Utah Divorce Arbitration & Mediation (Arb-Med)
a judge for yourselves
a judge for yourselves
We really do want our “About Us” page to tell you what you want to know about us.
So if, after reading this, you still have questions about arb-med, divorce arbitration, mediation, or other questions about us, what we do and how its done, please call Eric Johnson, tell the receptionist you have a question the About Us page did not answer
We really do want our “About Us” page to tell you what you want to know about us.
So if, after reading this, you still have questions about arb-med, divorce arbitration, mediation, or other questions about us, what we do and how its done, please call Eric Johnson, tell the receptionist you have a question the About Us page did not answer, and you will be put straight through.
What we do: using arb-med, arbitration, or mediation to decide family law disputes for people who want it done faster, fairer, less expensively, and overall better than today’s courts do.
To schedule your arb-med session, divorce arbitration hearing, or mediation settlement conference, call 801-466-9277 or e-mail Eric at eric@divorceutah.com
By providing our arbitration services and arb-med services to resolve family law disputes.
Arbitration is what court was intended to do, but doesn't: the just, speedy, inexpensive, and binding determination of a dispute.
Arb-med consists of an arbitration hearing, plus a mediation session.
Scroll down to read more about arbitration and arb-med in more detail below.
Because the legal system takes too long, costs too much, and does not give your particular case the attention and respect it needs and deserves. A better way is both necessary and available: arbitration or arb-med.
Nobody is perfect, and no system is perfect (and that includes ours), but today’s legal system is, more often than not, fail
Because the legal system takes too long, costs too much, and does not give your particular case the attention and respect it needs and deserves. A better way is both necessary and available: arbitration or arb-med.
Nobody is perfect, and no system is perfect (and that includes ours), but today’s legal system is, more often than not, failing spouses, parents, and families by every applicable standard.
Don’t take our word for it. The Utah court system itself knows the family law system is failing its “customers”:
From the June 2017 Report and Recommendations to the Standing Committee on Children and Family Law of the Domestic Case Process Improvement Subcommittee Report and Recommendations to the Standing Committee on Children and Family Law (pages 5 and 6)
Analysis of Statewide Court Data
*****
The data reveal that it currently takes a very significant length of time to resolve domestic cases in Utah.
*****
[T]he length of time . . . appears excessive at virtually every level.
*****
[I]t takes an average of four and a half months to resolve an uncontested divorce case. If the parties need to obtain temporary orders but then reach a resolution in their divorce, they can expect a delay of nearly 16 months.
If they need a bench trial to resolve their divorce issues, the average time rises to a year and ten months. For those unfortunate enough to have contested custody issues requiring a custody evaluation, their average wait time will be nearly 27 months in a divorce case. This latter statistic was especially troubling . . . because children are kept in an ongoing boiling cauldron of emotion as the parties jockey for position in their custody case, evidenced by the average 13 court hearings associated with such cases.
*****
Although the Subcommittee received no specific data regarding such fees or costs, it did hear anecdotal information that cases involving custody evaluations that go to trial typically result in attorney fees of $25,000 to $30,000 per party (not including the costs of the evaluation). This range appears to be valid in light of the number of average hearings associated with such cases.
(emphasis ours)
We're not aware of any competitors. We don't think there are any competitors.
Please address any other questions you have to us. We are happy to answer them.
801-466-9277
Arbitration. Any Utah divorce or child custody or child support or paternity case that can go to court can go to arbitration. If you have a dispute that you can’t resolve between you and the other party (whether by yourselves or with a mediator’s help), you have three choices: give up and let the other party have its way, go to court, or
Arbitration. Any Utah divorce or child custody or child support or paternity case that can go to court can go to arbitration. If you have a dispute that you can’t resolve between you and the other party (whether by yourselves or with a mediator’s help), you have three choices: give up and let the other party have its way, go to court, or go to arbitration. To understand the benefits of arbitration, you need to understand some basics about court.
The problem with going through court when the issues are contested (i.e., not settled) is that it takes far too long (literally years), costs far too much (literally tens of thousands of dollars), gives your case and your family far too little attention, and as a result, ends up being far too stressful and discouraging.
In arbitration you and your spouse/the other parent agree to have Eric Johnson, a Utah family lawyer, serve as your arbitrator. The arbitrator holds a hearing, makes rulings, and issues an order that is legally binding upon you and your spouse/the other parent.
Arbitration has many advantages over litigating in court. It costs less and takes less time. Unlike court proceedings, arbitration is private and less formal than court proceedings, and it focuses more time and attention on your specific case and family.
Arbitration works as well for you as you work for it. If all you want to do is scheme and argue, arbitration won’t save you much time, money, or hassle. But if you and the other party (your spouse or the other parent, for example) are reasonable people who know that reasonable minds can differ, if you both agree that you need someone to hear the evidence, decide the case, and issue binding orders, arbitration is for you.
“Arb-Med” consists of an arbitration hearing (usually two days), plus a mediation session (usually half a day, sometimes a whole day). Arbitration followed by mediation = Arb-Med.
In arb-med, Mr. Johnson serves as a neutral third party who conducts an arbitration hearing and makes a written award but does not disclose the award to the parties unless and until the parties fail to reach a settlement agreement in mediation.
The arbitrator/mediator cannot change his previously written arbitration award during or after the mediation session.
The arb-med process does not simply provide finality if mediation fails. Arb-med prepares the parties for better and more realistically for mediation, resulting in the parties engaging in mediation in a more informed, more focused, more sincere, and more efficient manner.
Arb-med also prevents confidential information disclosed in mediation from influencing the arbitrator’s ruling, as could happen if the arbitration followed the mediation (med-arb).
In the mediation session the mediator a) clarifies, and scrutinizes the parties’ respective positions to help the parties recognize the strengths and weaknesses of those positions; and b) assists the parties to generate and refine mutually acceptable settlement options.
Facilitative mediation ensures mediator impartiality and neutrality (i.e., the facilitative mediator does not offer his own views, opinions, or advice on the issues and their resolution, he does not speculate or predict how he believes a judge would decide the case).
Facilitative mediation helps ensure the arbitrator a) does not disclose details of his arbitration ruling in mediation; and b) does not attempt to persuade or browbeat the parties to settle on the terms articulated in the arbitration ruling.
Utah Divorce Arbitration & Mediation is a service of Utah Family Law, LC.
Email: eric@divorceutah.com Phone number: (801) 466-9277 - Mobile: (801) 450-0183
Please e-mail us at eric@divorceutah.com or 801-466-9277
if you don't find an answer to your question.
Concisely stated, it is a way of getting a legally binding divorce without conceding everything away in mediation and without wasting months (if not years) and tens of thousands of dollars going through the court system.
Some divorce and family law cases can and should be settled without having to prepare for and to go to court trial in court. If you and your spouse both want a divorce, and you trust each other to be fair and reasonable in your settlement negotiations, mediation is for you.
But there are many cases where reasonable minds can differ. The couple wants the dispute to end. They know it needs to end, but either one spouse or both spouses is/are unwilling to compromise. These kinds of cases need a “referee” who is neutral, knows the rules, applies them correctly and fairly, and timely. Mediation doesn’t meet this need. It can’t.
Many reasons, but the most compelling are:
Arbitration resolves these problems because:
More answers to other frequently asked questions can be found on our FAQ page: FAQs - Frequently asked (utahdivorcearbitration.com)
Have a question we haven't already covered? Please contact us; we're happy to oblige.
801-466-9277 - eric@divorceutah.com
Copyright © 2021 Utah Family Law, LC - All Rights Reserved.
Email us at eric@divorceutah.com or call 801-466-9277. We'll show you how to get your case resolved faster, less expensively, privately, and
better than going to court.