lawyer discouraging settlement

Why Your Lawyer Might Not Want You to Mediate (and Why You Should Anyway) 

If you suggest mediation to your lawyer and been met with resistance, you’re not alone. It can be confusing. Why would a legal professional advise against a process that is often faster, cheaper, and less stressful than going to court? The answer isn’t always simple, but it’s important to understand the dynamics at play. It’s rarely about malice; it’s often …

Mediation vs. Litigation: Which is Right for Your Family Business Dispute?

Your Family vs. The Courtroom: Choosing the Right Path for Your Business When a conflict over your family business’s future arises, you face a critical choice: how will you resolve it? This often involves choosing between mediation and litigation, leading to the classic debate of mediation vs litigation, two distinct approaches with profound consequences for your finances, your well-being, and …

Family Business Succession Plan

5 Common Family Business Succession Plan Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)

Creating a family business succession plan is complex, blending financial, legal, and deeply personal family dynamics. Even with the best intentions, many families fall into predictable traps that can derail the transition and cause lasting conflict. Recognizing these pitfalls is the first step toward avoiding them. At Alternative Law Mediation, we’ve seen how these challenges can impact a family. Here are five …

Siblings in business

Can Mediation Help When Siblings Disagree About the Family Business?

Why do siblings clash in business? Family businesses often mix the past, competition, control, personal history with the future and professional decisions. That’s a recipe for sibling conflict in a family business setting. Sibling conflict can arise when you have different work styles, expectations, or opinions on how the business should run—or who should run it. Common sibling conflicts include: …