Should I settle my divorce with my spouse?

Welcome to the Risk of Trial edition of “Doing Divorce Differently.”

My name is Steven Leskin. I am a divorce attorney in Portland Oregon. I have been practicing in Oregon since 1992.

As an attorney, I have lost cases I should have won, and won cases I should have lost. This is true for every attorney who has ever set foot in a court room. Going to court can be exhilarating or can leave you depressed and angry. I know both feelings well. You pay your money and you take your chances.

When you go to court, you never know how the judge is going to rule. Sometimes, the law is clear and offers clear guidance on how to rule. Sometimes, judges ignore this. Sometimes, the law is vague or gives the judge discretion. Some of the judges in this state are superb, others not so much. Some let their personal biases and prejudices color their decision making.

Others masterfully apply the law to the facts to come to a reasoned, evidence-based decision. All of this is to say: when you go to court, you are never assured of a favorable outcome, no matter how strong you think your case is. More often than not, judicial decision making is consistent with the law, but litigants always run the risk that the judge will not see the facts as sympathetically as you wish.

My law practice developed the One Day Divorce: a hybrid mediation arbitration process designed to quickly and expediently bring an end to your unhappy marriage. Again, my name is Steven Leskin. I am a divorce attorney in Portland. I have been practicing in Oregon since 1992. One Day Divorce. We do divorce differently.