When I was a kid growing up in Orange County, I had a friend named Doug, who I had from 3rd grade through 6th grade. Doug was an energetic and likable kid who always helped me meet new kids and develop my social skills despite being very naturally shy.
Doug began changing around the 6th grade, suddenly becoming reserved and quick to lash out in anger. He joined up with some older kids and started following them around, helping them pull some cruel pranks and picking on his classmates and former friends.
At the time, I didn’t understand why I was losing one of my best and oldest friends. I brought it up to my parents and they both blanched, telling me that he was going through some things with his family and that he needed time to work it out.
As I got older, I found out that his mother had walked out on his father, and the two had proceeded to have a very ugly divorce. He had been used as a weapon in that fight, and though he probably wasn’t old enough to fully understand, he knew enough to be hurt by it.
Doug was able to bounce back in his teenage years and has become a successful adult, but I’m sure the scars of that divorce still live large in his mind. He’s still unmarried, no doubt thanks to the specter of a painful and messy divorce weighing heavy on him.
Thankfully, alternatives to such a contentious and destructive litigated divorce process exist that allow you to forego the usual heartbreak. Mediation, for example, is a far more cooperative process that allows couples to work together to find a settlement that leaves both parties satisfied and families relatively intact.
Mediation works using a third-party mediator to help guide the couple through the process, representing both of them equally to make sure that the end result is fair and reasonable. Mediating such an emotionally charged process requires a skilled and delicate touch, which means only the best family law practitioners are up to the task.
In the Orange County area, there is only one firm that has the finesse and experience necessary to be called the premier mediator in the area, and that is McNamee Mediations. McNamee’s law offices have been open for nearly 50 years, providing the team with a level of institutional knowledge unmatched by nearly any other firm practicing today.
Divorce is never a pleasant process, but it doesn’t need to be the life-ruining event depicted in my story and thousands of others. Work with McNamee to ensure that your divorce ends as amicably as possible with as little damage to your family as possible.
McNamee Mediations
+19492233836
4590 MacArthur Blvd #500, Newport Beach, CA 92660
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