{"id":40105,"date":"2024-10-15T13:44:27","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T17:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/?p=40105"},"modified":"2024-10-15T13:44:27","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T17:44:27","slug":"seasoned-legal-professional-specializes-in-family-law-and-divorce-mediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2024\/10\/seasoned-legal-professional-specializes-in-family-law-and-divorce-mediation\/","title":{"rendered":"Seasoned Legal Professional Specializes In Family Law And Divorce Mediation"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_40106\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40106\" style=\"width: 878px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-40106\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/whitson-law-h.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"878\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/whitson-law-h.jpg 878w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/whitson-law-h-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2024\/10\/whitson-law-h-768x399.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 878px) 100vw, 878px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-40106\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">With 30 years of experience in various aspects of the law, Debra Whitson now practices family law and divorce mediation.<br \/>Courtesy of Whitson Law<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>By Jill Nagy<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u201cis the last stop on the train,\u201d said Whitson.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\"><span class=\"\"><b><span class=\"s1\"><span class=\"s2\"><!--more--><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe spoke everywhere,\u201d she recalled, even at the Kiwanis Club. \u201cPeople received the idea really well,\u201d she said, but it did not persuade clients. Since then, she said, growth of the clientele has been \u201cslow and steady.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She saw growth in her mediation practice during the Covid pandemic. People were reluctant to send their kids to the other parent\u2019s home. The courts were essentially closed, so many couples turned to mediation.<\/p>\n<p>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, \u201cDivorce Like a Pro,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>Whitson\u2019s practice concentrates on matrimonial and family law: divorce, child custody, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, adoption (\u201cour happy work\u201d), and related issues. She is seeing more cases where neither parent seems able to raise a child and a grandparent seeks custody.<\/p>\n<p>Whitson has been practicing law in New York state for 30 years, beginning as a prosecutor in Essex County, working in the \u201cspecial victims\u201d unit prosecuting cases involving domestic or sexual violence. She said the work was \u201cvery, very rewarding.\u201d However, after an unsuccessful run for District Attorney, she left the prosecutor\u2019s office and \u201dhung out my shingle\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>The Whitson law firm can be reached online at whitsonlawfirm.com. The Saratoga Springs office is located at 63 Putnam Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":40106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Seasoned Legal Professional Specializes In Family Law And Divorce Mediation - Saratoga Business Journal<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/saratogabusinessjournal\/2024\/10\/seasoned-legal-professional-specializes-in-family-law-and-divorce-mediation\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seasoned Legal Professional Specializes In Family Law And Divorce Mediation - Saratoga Business Journal\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jill Nagy Saratoga attorney Debra Whitson is on a mission to keep divorce clients out of court. 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