Peterson Mediation
Drew H. Peterson, Attorney and Mediator

An Alternative to a Contested Divorce or Other Family Court Proceeding!

Welcome to the home page of Peterson Mediation Services. We are a full services mediation firm emphasizing divorce and family mediation, with offices  in Anchorage, Alaska; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Denver, Colorado.  We will also travel to your area, wherever it might be.

Our Mission and Goal

         The mission of Peterson Mediation Services is to provide facilitative mediation services to individuals and families who are in conflict.  The goal of mediation, as we practice it, is to empower people to maintain control of important issues in their own lives without giving up that power to outside forces, notably attorneys, custody evaluators, and judges.

Profile

           Drew H. Peterson, J.D. has been a practicing mediator since 1987.  He has mediated hundreds of cases, primarily involving issues of divorce and other family legal issues.  Drew is an Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Management, and was formerly an Approved Consultant for the Academy for Family Mediators (a category that no longer exists).

            Drew's  background is as a family attorney, and he has been practicing family law since 1972.  He has been admitted to practice in front of the following courts:  Minnesota Supreme Court, United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, United States Court of Claims,  Alaska Supreme Court, United States District Court for the District of Alaska, Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals, and United States Supreme Court.  

           Drew's practice is currently limited primarily to mediation only, with an emphasis on divorce and family mediation, with the exception of a limited family law practice in the State of Alaska. 

            In addition to Drew, Peterson Mediation Services can arrange for a variety of experienced mediators, co-mediators, retired judges, arbitrators, or mediation trainers to handle your personal or organizational needs, whatever they might be.  While Drew Peterson's personal mediation practice is primarily limited to divorce and family mediation at the current time, his years of experience and involvement with the field of mediation have allowed him to associate with numerous other experienced mediators and dispute resolution professionals from all parts of the country.

What Is Family Mediation?

        Mediation is an informal non-adversarial process in which a trained, neutral third party - a mediator - helps parties to negotiate with each other. The mediator does not make a decision, but helps parties to reach their own settlements.
        Family mediation combines the techniques of a number or different professional disciplines and brings them to bear on family issues. Using techniques from fields as diverse as domestic relations law, family therapy, international diplomacy, and negotiation theory, the family mediation process reduces the anger, pain and conflict that often accompanies family crises.
        Mediation techniques have been particularly effective in resolving disputes between parties who have a continuing relationship. Thus mediation has been of special benefit to resolving disputes between family members, who are going to continue to be related to each other even after the dispute has ended.
        Family mediation is an alternative to the traumatic court battles, high legal fees, and extreme emotional disputes which often accompany the traditional adversarial legal process of resolving family disputes.
        Family Mediation facilitates agreements between family members, and sets the stage for a future relationship of cooperation, clearer communications, and problem resolution.
        Family Mediation is not appropriate for all cases. It is believed that when it does work, however, that mediation provides a more satisfactory, less traumatic, and less expensive alternative to resolving family law disputes than does the traditional litigation approach.

What Family Mediation Is Not

            * A family mediator is not a judge or arbitrator.
            * A family mediators is not a therapist or family counselor.
            * An attorney-mediator does not represent any party in a dispute.
            * A family mediator is not a child custody evaluator.

What Cases are Appropriate for Family Mediation

        Virtually any kind of dispute which can be litigated can be mediated, plus many additional kinds of family disputes which are seldom found in litigation. Family disputes which have been mediated successfully include the following:

* Divorce
* Child custody modifications
* Visitation disputes
* Child Support
* Temporary Separation
* Unmarried cohabitants
* Family owned business issues
* Parent-adolescent disputes
* Guardianship or Conservatorship
* Open adoptions
* Will contests

Call for a Consultation!

        Peterson Mediation Services offers telephonic consultations to advise you as to whether your case is appropriate for family mediation, and answer any questions that you might have.   You have nothing to lose and much to gain by considering whether family mediation might be appropriate to your case.

Contact Information:

Telephone:

  Or call Toll Free:  (866) 561-1518

Postal address:

       310 K Street, Suite 200, Anchorage, AK 99501

 

Electronic mail:

dhp@ak.net
Webmaster: webmaster@dhpfirm.com