That free mediation service at my county courthouse actually worked

I was in a dispute with my neighbor over a fence line in Fresno back in March. He wanted me to pay half for a new cedar fence but I didn't think it was my responsibility. I found the free mediation program through the Superior Court website and figured it couldn't hurt to try. We sat down with a mediator for about 90 minutes and she helped us agree on a split that felt fair. Has anyone else used one of these county programs and had it actually resolve something?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake_torres681d ago

The mediator at our Fresno courthouse was a retired bank manager, not even a lawyer, and she got us to agree in under two hours. I honestly thought those programs were just for show, but yours actually getting a 50/50 split on the fence is wild.

the_stella1d ago

Right, so @jake_torres68 basically hit the nail on the head. A retired bank manager handling a property line dispute sounds wild but honestly probably works because they're used to negotiating down to the last dollar. My case was super specific with the fence line because one neighbor had been paying for the land for like 15 years before the fence even went up. The mediator just sat there and let us argue for 45 minutes before she literally drew a line on a napkin and said "split it 50/50 or go to court." We all looked at each other and took it. No lawyer could have gotten that done faster.