Courtesy of Whitson Law
By Jill Nagy
Saratoga attorney Debra Whitson is on a mission to keep divorce clients out of court. She advocates and if possible practices collaborative divorce or mediated divorce, processes that empower the parties to resolve issues such as property division and child custody without litigation.
She explained that the parties can resolve the issues between themselves before consulting attorneys. She calls that do-it-yourself divorce. If that fails, they can bring in a neutral third party to mediate. The mediator can keep the conversation going and help the parties work things out. In mediation, each party is usually represented by an attorney. In a collaborative divorce, the parties are joined at the table by experts to assist with issues of property valuation, child welfare, and others. A divorce coach heads the team. A litigated divorce “is the last stop on the train,” said Whitson.
Resolving issues at the courthouse, that last stop, can be heart wrenching, especially for children, Whitson argues. It is also costly. Legal fees for a litigated divorce can reach $100,000 or more; the total cost, to both parties, for a collaborative divorce typically ranges from $10,000 to $15,000. The reduction in emotional cost, may be even greater.
In order for a mediated or collaborative divorce to work, the parties must be committed to complete disclosure of financial and other relevant information and to acting civilly toward one another, Whitson emphasized.
Both mediators and collaboration coaches are specifically trained for the work. Whitson and the group that went through training with her in 2013 went on to publicize and advocate for the change.
“We spoke everywhere,” she recalled, even at the Kiwanis Club. “People received the idea really well,” she said, but it did not persuade clients. Since then, she said, growth of the clientele has been “slow and steady.”
She saw growth in her mediation practice during the Covid pandemic. People were reluctant to send their kids to the other parent’s home. The courts were essentially closed, so many couples turned to mediation.
Also during the pandemic Whitson formed an online mediation company, Mediated Online Solutions. Separate from her law practice, the online company allows her to handle cases in jurisdictions where she is a qualified mediator but not licensed to practice law. Previously, Whitson published a book, “Divorce Like a Pro,” that explains the different approaches to divorce. A PDF version of the book can be downloaded free from her website, whitsonlawfirm.com, or the book can be purchased through Amazon.
Whitson’s practice concentrates on matrimonial and family law: divorce, child custody, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, adoption (“our happy work”), and related issues. She is seeing more cases where neither parent seems able to raise a child and a grandparent seeks custody.
Whitson has been practicing law in New York state for 30 years, beginning as a prosecutor in Essex County, working in the “special victims” unit prosecuting cases involving domestic or sexual violence. She said the work was “very, very rewarding.” However, after an unsuccessful run for District Attorney, she left the prosecutor’s office and ”hung out my shingle” in Elizabethtown. Her shingle is still hanging in Elizabethtown, with plans for another office in Plattsburgh. She opened her Saratoga office in November 2023. There are three lawyers in the office, one of them, Martin Cohen, is also a trained mediator.
The Whitson law firm can be reached online at whitsonlawfirm.com. The Saratoga Springs office is located at 63 Putnam Street.