Schreves Helen C ESQ Family Law Dispute

We hired Ms Shreves to help us with our mediation. We hired her so we could avoid going to trial and to find a reasonable solution, but she actually made things worse.

After she listened to both sides, she spoke with us alone. She first spoke with my husband. When she came onto the phone to speak with me, she had already come up with HER "solution" of how things should be handled instead of asking me what I wanted and then negotiating for each of us without bias. When I confronted her with my concerns that she had come up with a solution before involving me, she said she was an experienced mediator and knew what was best. Instead of talking with both sides and finding out what we both wanted, she decided what was best for us. That is not the role of a mediator.

As a result of what I perceive as mediation arrogance that resulted in false expectations, we ended up in further legal battle that cost us both lots of money. Even my attorney agreed that she did us both a great disservice. Instead of bringing us closer together, she pushed us further apart.

At the end of our legal battle, we ended up where we started BEFORE MEDIATION, but it ended up costing us both lots of money to get back there. While mediation is designed to help avoid long legal battles through resolution, Ms Shreves actually made things worse. While she claims that she has much experience, her experience has created an arrogance of "I know what is best for you" that clouds her ability to be unbiased and help her clients try to meet a goal that serves them both.