Are there gender differences in the ways that men and women approach divorce?
Westlake: A consistent gender difference is more in the area of their thought processes or approach. Women tend to add a lot of details, to add a lot of description, to add a lot of emotion to their communication, whereas men refrain from that type of speech and are typically more direct. Then again, this is a very broad generalization, certainly not true for everyone. So if I were to give advice to women, I would urge them to make lists before they speak to their attorney, to make lists before they get into a mediation session, be very focused, go back to their main talking points and goals. That’s advice for either gender, but it is particularly important for women not to go off track and discuss a lot of extraneous details. That’s how clients can be better clients and work better with their mediator – try to stay focused on the decisions they’re making and bring up only those things that would have an impact on their decisions. Untied: What are the most common areas of dispute durin
