Family law cases have complexities that are challenging to resolve in an adversarial system, including litigation and traditional mediation structures, which struggle with inefficiencies and other inadequacies, leading to dissatisfied clients. This book examines how traditional dispute resolution options fall short of meeting the needs of most divorcing couples and highlights the benefits of neutral case management from the outset through finalization of each case. This is a how-to manual providing practical step-by-step guidance to family law professionals by formalizing the case management role of neutral mediators and delivering specific examples for the case managing mediator to employ, including case examples, suggested language, and sample formats for mediators to use to expand their own practice offerings. This book presents a clear, structured model for case managed mediation that supports a more collaborative and client-centered process for the benefit of clients and professionals involved in these complex cases with the goal of supporting family law mediators in becoming comfortable with their role as neutral case managers to more efficiently and effectively guide clients, counsel, and other family law professionals through the mediation and court process.
About the Author :
Paula M. Lawhon is a passionate, full-time family law mediator whose professional journey began in the courtroom. More than 25 years ago, she launched her legal career with a commitment to helping people through some of life's most difficult moments. She soon recognized that the adversarial court system was often sluggish, inefficient, and disruptive to families' progress. Discouraged by a process that rarely prioritized the efficiency her clients needed, she left litigation nearly 20 years ago to become a dedicated neutral mediator.
Today, Lawhon guides clients through complex family law matters with care, balance, and efficiency. She believes that keeping family law cases moving effectively requires more than strong mediation skills-it also requires effective, neutral case management. Because this operational framework is rarely taught, her mission as an author is to support family dispute professionals in helping more families achieve constructive outcomes. Whether working with lawyers, financial professionals, therapists, or coaches, she aims to help practitioners integrate efficient case management into their practices for the benefit of everyone involved.
Before practicing law, Lawhon worked as a civil and criminal private investigator while attending University of California, Irvine and UC Law San Francisco. She lives in Marin County, just outside San Francisco, with her husband, their teenage son, and their spirited Pomeranian, Asher.
Review :
“Reading Paula Lawhon’s book has reminded me of the things I need to do in my own practice in order to provide my clients with the highest level of service. From the initial meeting with the parties to allow them to determine if she would be a good fit as their mediator, through the entry of judgment and follow up tasks needed to carry out the terms of the parties’ settlement, Lawhon and her team have systems in place that provide timelines, checklists, and procedures that result in the efficient completion of the case with no ‘loose ends.’ Now that I provide mediation services myself, I have relentlessly appropriated the organizational techniques and case management procedures I have learned from Ms. Lawhon in my many cases with her. This book contains suggested verbiage of what the mediator may want to consider saying to parties or counsel during difficult times in mediation sessions. I have heard her say these things many times, always in a way that is balanced in being business-like in content, but also sensitive to parties who are often not at their best due to the stressors of going through a difficult divorce. I highly recommend Effectively Steering the Ship for anybody considering a career as a mediator, as well as experienced mediators seeking to improve the level of service they provide to their clients.” — Steven Stoltz, private judge and mediator
“In my many years as a divorce mediator and co-parenting professional, I’ve found Paula Lawhon to excel in every area needed to be a stellar attorney-mediator. Not only does she know family law, she is conversant with real estate, tax law, financial details, and court requirements; perhaps most importantly, she is psychologically minded and astute. Luckily for professionals who can read this book, Ms. Lawhon has laid out her methods for all to learn and emulate.”— Stacey Shuster, PhD, psychologist-mediator
“Reframing the family law mediator’s role as a case manager is so ‘duh’ that we might miss the revolutionary aspect of this vision. As family law becomes more complicated, the mediator can no longer sit by, passively or therapeutically, waiting for the parties to get to yes. I can attest that Ms. Lawhon’s ideas about the active role required by the mediator have been developed through hundreds of her successful mediations, and she draws a clear map here for others to follow.”— Marjorie A. Slabach, retired, Superior Court Commissioner
