Connecticut Nonlawyer Mediation

Connecticut Supreme Court Justice William J. Sullivan has denounced the preparation of divorce settlement agreements by nonlawyers, calling it a burden for the court system.

Speaking to the Connecticut Bar Association on June 13, Justice Sullivan said that the practice places judges in a difficult position of having to reject agreements that do not comply with Connecticut statutes. This invariably disappoints at least one person, he said, often two people, who thought they had finally finished what he called “this wrenching process.”

Separately, the Connecticut legislature has recently approved, without a single dissenting vote, a provision permitting arbitration in divorce. Although the arbitrator must be sworn in, there’s no requirement in the statute that the arbitrator be a lawyer.

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