Until recently, all formal disputes and differences between families, individuals and businesses have been resolved by the courts with very little, if any input from the parties.
This traditional approach to dispute resolution has created and supported a stigma that most parties to a dispute are unable to agree on a mutually equitable resolution. For centuries, society has embraced this belief to the extent that having the courts settle our differences has become accepted as commonplace. Hence, when a disagreement or dispute arises, a law suit or complaint is filed with the appropriate court, attorneys are hired and the judicial system takes over - under the assumption that the parties in dispute cannot or are not capable of resolving the matter themselves.
In the early 1980’s alternative dispute resolution (ADR) formally emerged in an effort to challenge this age-old stigma - specifically in legal issues involving family matters (divorce, parenting plans, child support, spousal support, division of marital assets, etc.). As the field and study of ADR advanced, it became evident that the parties to virtually every dispute had the desire and ability to make all the decisions and agreements necessary to reach a fair and balanced resolution - moreover, the parties can and do successfully settle their differences with very little intervention from the court.
Today most Tennessee courts agree that, prior to hearing family law related disputes, the parties to the dispute will first attempt to resolve the matter through mediation.
The result… mediation works.