In a case that illustrates the connection between separation and murder, a man has been killed by his estranged wife following an unsuccessful attempt at mediation.
According to the story in the American Bar Association Journal, the wife went to her car after the mediation, came back with a gun and shot the husband. The mediation took place in a lawyer’s office in Tennessee on December 4.
For years we have been repeating the need for family lawyers, mediators and arbitrators to take proper training in Screening for Power Imbalances and Family Violence. This is not just training in understanding the dynamics of domestic violence– though that is a good start.
Lawyers and meditators have a duty to understand the various kinds of violence, and the tools and research that exists to help them predict the risk of harm coming to someone while a family law case is being negotiated.
It is well established that many domestic homicides are preventable. The risk factors that predict such homicides are also well known.
There is no excuse for a family lawyer, mediator, arbitrator judge or therapist to not be educated about these risks and know how to identify, assess and manage them.
Hilary Linton and colleagues will be teaching a three day workshop in screening for such risks April 7-9 2014. She is also teaching a 2-day workshop in Seattle with Bill Eddy, Rod Wells and Claudette Reimer July 20-21,2014 for the APFM.
