An Evaluation of Court Mediation A Comparison in Divorce Cases with Children*

/ N this analysis. courts with and without a mediation servicewerecompared on three criteria: ( I) economic efficiency. (2) compliance with court orders, and (3) postdivorce adjustment. The data were obtained from published articles and court reports from California, Connecticut. Minnesota. Wis-consin. Canada, and Australia. I t was found that a court with a mediation service was economically more efficient than one without a mediation program. In addition, mediated settlements had greater compliance with divorce agreements and more favorable postdivorce adjustment than non-mediated settlements. The data indicate that mediation would lessen the cost and improve the quality of dispute resolution at the time of divorce