Law Degrees for Legal Tasks: A Reasonable Expectation

A divorce mediator needs substantive knowledge of family law and at least 15 other overlapping fields of law that are taught in law school. In every divorce case for the past 21 years, I have applied concepts from at least 10 of my law school full-semester or full-year courses, and I draw upon what I learned in other law school courses on a case-by-case basis as the circumstances present themselves.

Moreover, there are dozens – maybe more than 100 – big and small choices that my clients make with ease during their cases. 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 clients without taking much more of their time.

A Law Degree is Crucial in Divorce Mediation

However, in Oregon, it is legal to practice divorce mediation without a law degree. In my view, based on the legal complexity that a comprehensive divorce requires, this creates an unreasonable risk to clients.

I have rebuilt more than 100 divorce settlements from the ground up for clients who had come from other mediators previously, I have seen time and again that attempting to mediate legally and financially significant divorce matters without three years of full-time legal education creates a knowledge gap that is unfair to divorcing people when they are most in need of thoroughness and expertise.

Case in point: I recently read a mediation website that offered answers to many legal questions. Only about one fourth of the answers were fully accurate. The rest were either false or misleading.

At best, trying to lead the discussion of legal issues without a law degree -- particularly about something as sensitive and consequential as divorce --is risky and incomplete. At worst, it can cause actual financial harm. I have witnessed it because I've been hired to help fix it.

This Problem Exists Right Here in Portland

I will present your options for resolving each issue in your divorce and can craft creative solutions to meet your needs and usually can accommodate your preferences. My training in the law allows me to understand, research, analyze, and write for you to an extent that would be impossible without having committed myself to three years of law school.

The coursework for my J.D. degree also included other aspects of the law that may not seem directly related to divorce -- such as Torts and Criminal Law. That knowledge has sometimes provided me with opportunities to share information with clients who may be considering unwise actions that could lead to unintended and undesirable consequences.

You can be virtually certain that someone who is attempting to mediate a divorce without a law degree is working with materials originally prepared by someone with a law degree.

The problem is that not everything can be reduced to a checklist or even a reference book. There will always be more law or more legal analysis that didn't make it into the final draft of the materials but still resides within the author's mind.

One of three things will happen next:

The mediator will do more research to compensate for what she or he did not know. That will delay the completion of the case, even if the client is not charged extra for that time.
The mediator will confer with an attorney -- delaying the process, incurring more cost, or both.
The mediator will present only the limited information that he or she has, which could result in a client not having the proper options from which to choose as the client makes important decisions with long-lasting and far-reaching impact.

Advantage of a Divorce Mediator with a Law Degree

Let me be clear: I do not propose that a law degree is necessary for every kind of mediation. Keeping two people calm can be enough if the subject of the mediation is relatively minor. Many landlord-tenant or neighbor-to-neighbor mediations are very successful with mediators who come from a variety of professional fields.

But the expertise should match the subject matter. It is difficult to formulate the best solutions to any problem without first studying it thoroughly. Divorce has far-reaching legal, financial, and personal consequences. Conflict resolution alone is not enough.

Your Marital Settlement Agreement will be significantly more detailed and precise when you have a law-trained mediator drafting it. Life is not a template. Life is customized to every person, and your MSA must be as well.

Like the Apple App Store ad campaign years ago, where the slogan was “Yep, there’s an app for that,” you can include virtually anything important to you in your MSA if your mediator knows how to draft it. However, if your mediator does not have the expertise to draft legal verbiage, there is no room for adaptation, innovation, and creativity. Life doesn't operate within a template, and neither should something as life-impacting as your divorce mediation.

There's a Clause for That

(at least there should be)

Your divorce is probably the most important legal dispute you’ll ever be involved in. Your mediator's expertise should meet the moment. I encourage you to consider the value of choosing a divorce mediator with a law degree to familiarize you with creative ways to understand and settle such an important legal matter.

I hope you will decide to make a law degree a non-negotiable criterion for your divorce mediator. I would be pleased to serve in that role for you. Please contact me to schedule a consultation so that I can learn more about your needs and how I can help you.

Next Steps

Matthew House J.D. | Divorce Mediation
3800 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Suite 271
Beaverton, OR 97005
(503) 643-5284
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Matthew House's practice is neutral, limited to divorce mediation and financial analysis. He holds a law degree but is not a member of the Oregon State Bar. No information provided on 503.legal constitutes legal advice. The use of this website does not form a mediator-client relationship.

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