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Les Wallerstein
Les Wallerstein

Senior Mediator

Senior MediatorThis mediator has at least 100 hours of mediation training, 500 hours of mediation experience, agrees to take part in at least 12 hours per year of continuing mediation education, and subscribes to Mediate.com's required standards of mediation practice.Premium MemberCertified Mediator

Les Wallerstein

My practice specializes in mediation and non-adversarial family law. I believe it is especially important to avoid the ravages of litigation when children are involved.

The majority of my mediation clients are actively seeking to divorce. I also mediate all of the following: pre-marital agreements (formerly known as prenuptial agreements), marital agreements i.e., conflicts between spouses who have not decided to divorce (formerly known as postnuptial agreements), post-divorce disputes and cohabitation (and co-tenancy) agreements between unmarried partners.

As collaborative counsel I am committed to the least adversarial practice of law possible. I believe collaborative legal representation offers the best hope for a non-adversarial resolution when mediation is not an option.


I am a practicing attorney with a master’s degree in psychology. As a psychotherapist I worked with individuals, couples, families and groups for 20 years before becoming a lawyer. My professional background includes: Association for Conflict Resolution, Founding Member: 2001, Advanced Practitioner (Family Section): 2001 – 2009; Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council, Founding Member: 2000, Board of Directors: 2000 – 2004, Treasurer: 2000 – 2002, Co-founder & Co-editor of the Collaborative Law Journal: 2003 – 2006, Member: 2000 – 2010; Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Member: 1993 – present, Board of Directors: 1993 – present, President: 2001 – 2002, Founder & Editor, Family Mediation Quarterly: 2002 – present, Certified Divorce Mediator: 1996 – present, and Massachusetts Justice of The Peace: 2008 – present.

ADR Experience

Since opening my mediation practice in 1992, I have mediated hundreds of divorces and related interpersonal conflicts with both traditional and non-traditional families.

Approach

Mediating family disputes is at the heart of my practice. Believing that clients are the best experts on the life of their family, I focus on helping them craft fair and lasting settlements. Despite my client-centered approach, I will become actively engaged in the process when the parties approach an impasse. As a lawyer-mediator, I often draft all the court forms needed for a Massachusetts divorce. I encourage clients to do as much work as possible on their own to help minimize their mediation costs.

Education

BA 1967: New York University, Spanish Literature;

MA 1970: New York University, Psychology; and

JD 1990: New England Law/Boston.

Areas Of Practice

  • Divorce (all issues)
  • Divorce (parenting)
  • Family
  • Marital Mediation
  • Online Family/Divorce
  • Online Mediation
  • Prenuptial

Additional Services

  • Collaborative Professional
  • Counselor
  • Mediating Lawyer
  • Mediation Consultant
  • Mediator-Arbitrator
  • Representational Lawyer

Fees and Provisos

I offer all couples considering a Massachusetts divorce a free, one-hour consultation if no family court actions are pending, or have been filed in the past two years. My hourly fee for divorce mediation is $350, and clients sign a fee agreement and pay $3,000 as a retainer at the beginning of the process. While all divorces are unique, if a couple owns one house, has two children and are committed to resolving their differences, they can expect their mediated divorce to cost in the neighborhood of $3,500. Most couples share the cost of their mediation.

Liability Insurance

  • Yes

Professional Associations

  • MCFM - Mass. Council of Family Mediation
  • APFM - Acad. of Professional Family Mediators
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