Recently, the Georgia Supreme Court took a discretionary appeal of the trial court’s order finding the wife in criminal and civil contempt of the the court’s divorce decree and related order, awarding the husband over $80,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.  The Georgia Supreme Court reversed. Scherer v. Testino, S12A0222 (05/07/12).

 In this case, the divorce decree awarded a medical supply business to the husband and established a transitional plan to detangle the wife from the operation and ownership of it. Additional court orders were required to facilitate these transfers, to include establishing a calculable date upon which the wife could close a specific business bank account.

The data can be found here…or downloaded here.

The first portion of the presentation is a panel discussion from the divorce experts regarding the process and wise steps to take before, during and after the divorce process.  The second portion of the presentation involves a round-robin whereby attendees meet, one on one, with each panelist for a short meeting.  Due to the round-robin, this event has a limited number of seats that fosters a small group and confidential setting.  During the one-on-one meetings, specific concerns, questions, and information can be exchanged.  For the panelists, getting good information into your hands in a comfortable setting is paramount.

To register for the June 19th event in Buckhead, register through  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3567322959

Time:  Please arrive by 5:30 pm.

Place:  70 Lenox Pointe, NE, Atlanta, GA 30324 (Fryer Law Building)

Coupon code: SMART – $10 off registration fee.  

Other info:  Early registration – $49.00 thru May 23^rd; Regular registration – $69.00 thru May 30th.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/05/15/workplace-relationship/

Is your company prepared to respond promptly, credibly, and with integrity to allegations of misconduct?  Ensure that your Risk Management team is prepared.  One Mediation can help through its workplace investigation training modules, professional investigators, and training offerings.

Module I provides a strong foundation on the role of an investigation in resolving concerns, along with specific activities geared towards interviewing witnesses professionally and competently.  Module II is a practicum for attendees to work through the components of a workplace investigation, through to a mock deposition, with immediate feedback from Labor & Employment litigators.   Registrants may choose to attend only Module I; though completion of Module I is a pre-requisite to registering for Module II.  The agendas for Module I and for Module II are available.

Credits through HRCI are available.

June 1, 2012 - Real Estate Conundrums in Divorce Mediations – 9 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. (Atlanta/$70)             drrickv@divorcecenterofatlanta.com 

June 6, 2012 - Divorce Mediation Orientation – 12-1:30 p.m. (One Mediation/$35 at door)  

June 15-17 – Women’s Divorce Survival Weekend - www.visionsanew.org

June 23, 2012 – Seminars for Divorcing Couples – ($29.95; www.divorceinnovations.com)

In that case, AT&T was accused of failing to provide religious accommodations and retaliating against a Muslim employee.  In slapping AT&T with these damages, the court demonstrated in very clear terms that it was not impressed with employment policies that merely pay lip-service to the principles and rules they dictate.  At issue here, AT&T had satisfactory policies  regarding discrimination, harassment, retaliation and accommodations, but it did not implement them satisfactorily.  Specifically, the lack of a meaningful workplace investigation into this employee’s complaints about religious discrimination was inexcusable.

Employers and Human Resources professionals should be mindful of the needs for good policies in their workplaces.  However, they should be prepared to implement them with a process or procedure that includes appropriate follow-up on workplace complaints of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation and already have a ready-list of external sources, such as One Mediation, for more substantive workplace investigations and mediations, in order to resolve matters before further damage to morale, compliance, or the bottom-line occurs.

An uncontested divorce is really describing the legal status of the divorce paperwork filed with the relevant court.  In an uncontested divorce, the couple has agreed to all of the terms of the divorce and has essentially stipulated to the answers to the legal issues (property division, children’s issues, etc.), such that a court could simply adopt the couple’s agreement and issue a divorce decree.  

Everything else, from the court’s perspective, is a contested divorce.

For some couples, they are very close to reaching an agreement on the terms of their divorce.  The couple is fairly amicable, but the details of their separations and futures haven’t been fully resolved.  In such instances, divorce mediation may be a great solution to getting the couple from “nearly uncontested” to uncontested, indeed.

How does a couple know if mediation will work for them?  The short answer is that no one knows if mediation will result in a complete agreement, though it does for many families.  There are some factors that couples might consider in determining whether divorce mediation will be a good process for them to use or not.  A recent and short article hits on some of these factors.  

If you are considering divorce mediation, contact One Mediation to learn more, attend a seminar, or schedule an appointment with a divorce consultant or divorce mediation coach to get more informed, prepared, and confident about the divorce process and your future.