| rev:text
| - This is partially in response to Miciah D's review.
I am the former Mrs. Miciah D. Here's the whole story.
PK was very professional and kind, to both of us. She told us up front that she didn't take sides, and even makes that promise in writing. We began with a free consultation; we discussed the terms of mediation, and PK outlined what she did and what she did not do as a mediator. She was not going to make decisions for us, but she would hear both sides, and offer guidance and suggestions if need be.
We began mediation directly after the consultation, focusing on our kids and how our split schedule would work. PK kept the questions flowing, bringing up things Miciah and I hadn't even thought of. With her help, we began to get a grasp on what the process of divorcing would entail, and how our lives would need to be divided.
We scheduled the next session. Miciah was displeased that we would have to wait 2 weeks for another appt - he wanted to "get the show on the road". PK was apologetic - her schedule fills quickly, and she had already agreed to accommodate Miciah for a time she didn't usually offer for our free consultation. (If I'm remembering correctly, she doesn't do free consultations in the afternoon, but she had agreed to meet us at 3pm on a Friday. Already she was being accommodating.)
PK emailed a list of documents she needed to get the process rolling. Bank statements, financial summaries, etc.
Our appointment day arrived. 3:30 was our appt time. Miciah was 15 minutes late, claiming traffic. I had taken the same route 20 mins earlier, and had run into no traffic. I mention this merely so you have an understanding of how Miciah's mind works sometimes.
PK welcomed him when he arrived, and waved off his lateness with a smile. (At 3:20, she had come into the lobby and greeted me, and asked where Miciah was. I told her I honestly didn't know, which was true. At 3:30, she invited me into the conference room, saying "We'll go ahead and get started, and he can join us when he gets here.")
We began our second appointment, which was to mostly cover finances. PK brought up a clothing budget for the kids, which worked out to $60 per month for each of us.
Miciah was stunned. "No way," he responded. "There's no way we ever spend that much on clothing for our kids."
"You have boys," PK reminded us. "Shoes can eat that up in one shot. It's not a big number, it's pretty realistic."
Miciah shook his head. He continued to protest the number, saying it was too high, despite the fact that up until the divorce he'd done almost none of the kids shopping.
PK did not waffle under his protests. She asked him what number he wanted her to write on the board, and he told her. She did, and we moved on.
At the end, she commended us, telling us our budgets were realistic and well thought out. We left with more assignments of what to send her. PK told us we shouldn't need to come in again until we signed our finished agreement, and so the most expensive part of mediation was mostly finished.
After this, we did not hear from PK for several days. Miciah fretted, wondering what was taking her so long. We emailed her, and she reassured us that she would get back to us soon, that she had a few clients finishing up their contracts, and some professional obligations to take care of, but that we were in her queue.
A few days later she began sending bits of the contract, asking us to edit in red. Miciah began protesting things we had discussed in mediation, and thus began a $500 email fight between him and me.
PK remained neutral, said we were doing good work and to keep communication flowing. He began demanding changes to our agreement - for instance, me splitting the cost of the refi with him, because "he was gaining no benefit by refinancing the house into his own name" - I was gaining more by being able to walk away. PK said this wasn't really equitable - he was choosing to keep the house, so the costs were his. He said she didn't know what she was talking about.
PK kept her cool. She cited her experience and what the usual course of action was. Miciah attacked her character, saying that she was a biased fraud because she was "taking my side."
Eventually he and I agreed on things, and PK sent a final doc, having kept her professionalism intact.
There were missing clauses and some mistakes, which I had expected because of the dozens of emails. Miciah announced that she'd done a bad job, citing all the mistakes. She apologized, and sent a new contract with corrections.
In essence, she was given a difficult client, and she did her best, and in his eyes it wasn't good enough. PK is fair and a good mediator. Miciah had zero understanding for the situation he created - he merely blamed. Which is why he and I are no longer married.
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