Peace Talks Mediation Services

Stephanie Maloney and the staff at Peace Talks were able to come in at the 11^th hour and take an extremely complicated and convoluted (botched) divorce agreement and put it back on track! We had gone to another mediator a year before we found Peace Talks and the experience there was horrible (they didn’t know the law; were terrible at communicating; made no attempt at impartiality and, the agreement they ultimately drafted was riddled with both factual and mathematical errors). The folks at Peace Talks were the complete opposite: Stephanie talked us through the law and explained all the necessary changes and requirements, when things began to get emotionally tense, she had an almost magical ability to reset and redirect the conversation. Stephanie was obviously interested in maintaining transparency and fairness throughout our discussions – which went a long way toward restoring communication between my ex and I. Stephanie is a wonder! I cannot offer a more emphatic endorsement for Stephanie and the folks at Peace Talks; they are brilliant, compassionate, extremely efficient and very reasonable in terms of their fees.

Ahem…
So writing this review is difficult for me because, well it brings public discussion of my divorce up for everyone’s eyes. However, I care about my Unilocal community and candid opinions are the ones that usually give me the most insight. So here goes.
There’s two part to mediation:
1) The process (paperwork and filing)
2) The negotiation
So the process part. 5 stars. Stephanie and Janae did a great job prepping our paperwork and running our scenarios and filing our petitions, etc etc etc. Its the type of stuff that you would expect to go off without a hitch, and I’m grateful that it has been a non-​issue. Additionally, its the type of thing that would be miserable to have to figure out on your own or even painful to have to deal with longer than absolutely necessary. I’m truly grateful for having all the guidance while filling the forms out and knowing what to expect.
Now for the negotiation. I’m pretty unhappy about how everything went down. My ex and I started this meeting with, «I don’t know what would take us 3 hours to get through, this really should just be an hour.» It was explained to me that there’s a lot of things to go through, and indeed there was. HOWEVER, I feel like Stephanie neglected to ask us what we wanted to accomplish in mediation and just went through their process. Rather than addressing the things that my ex and I needed help with, we went though all of our asses, ALL OF THEM. We even spent almost half an hour trying to figure out the history of a checking account with 3 people trying to figure it out, none of who were the account holder. Basically it went from 1 hour of helping us figure out the couple things we needed help with, it became 8 hours of going through all the things we didn’t want help with. In the end, it began to feel like my best interests were not being considered and we were just being pushed to come to a decision.
The whole point of us going to Peace Talks was that they had a finance person, a therapist, and a lawyer all in the same room to provide guidance, information, and facilitate communication and negotiation. What it ended up being was too many people talking too much and people participating outside of their expertise. This was so evident that my ex and I ended up having to do the final negotiations outside of the office because we didn’t want to have to deal with 3 other people making things more stressful and difficult for us.
So I can’t say that Peace Talks did a bad job, it just wasn’t for me. If you do go, I suggest that you have them do your filing and paperwork for you, but tell them EXACTLY what you need help deciding on, do not just give them free range.
We aren’t quite done, but we’re pretty close to $ 10k at $ 675/​hour for the 3 person negotiations and the other costs coming from paperwork. I’m grateful to have had their help, but unhappy with the process and how it affected the end result.
If you’re reading this, I wish you the best of luck. Everything will be just fine.

Thank you so much,
We ended our marriage in 3 hours,
Then went to lunch together.
My ex husband & I are good friends.
I’m so grateful.

Called them for a very unique situation regarding son who is marrying someone from South America, how and if it his pension is impacted. Received definitive and immediate answers made clear, simple and easy to understand. Highly recommend…

I know divorce can be a difficult event but Peace Talks can make it easier. I met Diana through the amazing Stephanie Maloney and I should have known she would be awesome too. We came into the office for a consultation and left with an agreement. Her compassion, integrity and humor made a difficult process a lot more bearable then expected. Go talk to her you will immediately begin to see the light at the end of this often ugly tunnel. With her great assistant Janae and the financial specialist it was a good experience.

This is it, your search is over! I cannot say enough about Diana Mercer and Peace Talks. Their co-​mediation model truly works, and they really guide you through the process. Diana is so knowledgeable, intelligent, sincere, balanced, wise, and experienced, and her staff is equally amazing. Peace Talks offers a sane, respectful alternative to going to court and dealing with expensive lawyers. By helping to create peace out of conflict, Diana Mercer is providing a much needed service in our community. I am deeply grateful to her, and to Peace Talks Mediation Services.

I didn’t know the first thing about mediation when my spouse told me about Peace Talks. The mediators there were really great. In fact, the whole staff was great. I liked that they offered a free first appointment so I could meet them before committing to the process. They helped us get organized for our first actual mediation appointment, which went pretty smoothly given the fact that we were splitting up and pretty upset. They patiently explained all of the confusing court paperwork and were really up front about how much it would cost and how we could save money. You don’t see many lawyers doing that! I liked that they gave us 2 mediators in each session – a lawyer for the legal stuff and a therapist for the emotional divorce stuff. They worked together really well to help us through all of the stumbling blocks. I was concerned that since I didn’t have a lawyer that I’d get taken advantage of, but they answered all of our questions and even provided legal documentation and backup. Some of our discussions got pretty heavy, but I’m glad we sorted it out with the help of someone trained to help us so we didn’t have to keep fighting about the same stuff over and over again. We didn’t have to go to court and all our paperwork was processed without our having to do much of anything except reach an agreement and sign. Much less stressful than going to court or fighting with lawyers.

Thank God for Peace Talks. My divorce was extremely complicated and confusing and I never thought I could get through it without endless court dates and astronomical attorney’s fees. Peace Talks was able to sort through the issues and keep me focused on the big picture. Their caring and practical approach saved me from the divorce burnout and hostility that friends have gone through. I am sure that my children benefitted as well; with Peace Talks’ guidance my ex and I hammered out a reasonable co-​parenting agreement without resorting to an angry tug-​of-​war that would certainly have caused damaging psychological fallout for the kids. I have gotten through my divorce whole, something I surely wouldn’t be able to say had we gone the more adversarial Court route. I wholeheartedly recommend Peace Talks for anyone facing the break-​up of a marriage or partnership.

I can not stress enough how helpful the folks at Peace Talks were to me and my ex-​wife. While our divorce was thankfully not marred by any excessive acrimony it was still a very tense time for both of us.
Diana walked us through the process in a kind and helpful fashion that made it very easy for us to get our «ducks in a row» and we saved a ton of cash that would normally have gone to a third party. If you and your spouse can stand talking to each other than you owe it to yourselves to go the way of a mediated settlement. You will be happy you did when all is said and done and the dust settles.

10 stars for Diana (but it only allows me 5).
Diana is the mediation guru of the 21^st century. I met her at a training for mediators, and was instantly drawn to her charisma. I am a divorce lawyer (specializing in high-​conflict cases), and when clients approach me for a more peaceful method of resolution, I immediately send them to Peace Talks. Diana and her staff has worked very well with any client I’ve sent to them. Her success rate is amazing, and goes well with their motto, «Truce is better than friction!» I highly endorse her.

I recently got divorced using peace talks mediation. And I must say that I was very disappointed with the outcome. the reason I am still giving them 3 stars is because the people are professional and cordial and knowledgeable. The whole Family lawyer-​therapist combo delivers less than one would hope and feels somewhat gimmicky. The therapist isn’t there to offer therapeutic advice of any kind but really just to offer an ear in a private room when either party loses it. I don’t know if it’s worth the premium one pays for the privilege. That said, my primary beef is that I don’t feel as though true neutrality was observed when I look at my deal. Yes I signed, yes I had a chance to review the agreement, yes no one forced the agreement on me, but the dollar numbers that were put down were unconscionable given my income and particular situation (on paper I owed next to nothing to my wife, just child support) Those numbers should have been red flags to the mediator who should have never allowed them to be considered — without bringing the problem to my attention.