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The single worst mistake you can make in a divorce is to hire a “mediator” who does not have a law degree. Divorce is a legal matter, and anyone trying to mediate a family law case without a law degree is surely using materials prepared by someone with one.

The task is to mediate a legal matter -- one as important and consequential as a family law dispute. It's unreasonable -- and, in truth, irresponsible -- to consider trying to lead that discussion without the benefit of three years of law school and the thousands of hours of instruction and study that went into that degree. Just as no one is allowed to practice medicine without a medical degree, no one should be allowed to practice mediation without a law degree. Until the law is changed to protect the public from underqualified “mediators,” divorce mediation clients will have to do their own due diligence.

The problem is that divorce mediation isn’t always linear. It’s not possible to make a checklist that accommodates every scenario. Someone with a J.D. degree knows more than the longest checklist that she or he could write. No written material and no phone number on speed dial can fully compensate for the lack of a degree in the field that is central to the controversy.

What is the result? An incomplete or flawed divorce settlement.

Any skilled mediator can probably succeed at keeping most people calm and cordial, but that is insufficient. Staying calm, without more, does not resolve the issue. Some disputes, such as between neighbors or even between spouses, can be resolved by a professional mediator whose primary skill is communication and interpersonal relations. There is a value to that, and I don’t seek to disparage it. It is true, of course, that being able to communicate respectfully through the mediation session is essential.

The issue is not whether a non-law-degreed mediator can keep people conversing in a civil manner. I would expect that almost all of them can. The problem is that the clients in a divorce case are relying on the mediator for more than just keeping them on track and not raising their voices.

The substance is at least as important as the style. When clients come to my office, they expect me to tell them what they don’t know. They want solutions to things they cannot find a way out of. I have to do more than simply help them reach a middle ground on whatever positions they came in with that day. I have to be the one to provide options when they can’t think of any. I’m the one who shares three or four new ideas that they may want to consider.

A divorce mediator needs substantive knowledge of family law, fluency in the language of divorce finance, and an exhaustive list of parenting plan components. There are dozens – maybe more than 100 – big and small decisions that my clients make with ease. Those decisions are made smoothly because my legal training has enabled me to know what to ask to broaden and deepen the agreement to make it work more effectively for the clients without taking much more of their time. I focus on nuances that have to be drafted correctly so that the spirit of the agreement isn’t diluted by poor word choice.

Further, the mediator must have intricate knowledge of legal writing to tailor each provision to be both compliant with the clients’ wishes and legally enforceable. Deft drafting skills and the knowledge to think of a creative solution in the first place comes from years of formal education.

Simply put, if your mediator's skill set is deficient because the person lacks a degree in the specific field that matters to solve the problem you are paying significant money for that person to help you navigate, the scope of the options available to you and the effectiveness of the written product that emerges from your mediation will likely be limited as well. As you choose the person who will guide you through this important process, please consider requiring what the law currently does not: Your mediator should, without question, have a law degree.