Divorce Resolutions® principal mediator and ADR professional is Lawrence F. King, J.D. Larry is a full-time Denver, Colorado attorney-mediator whose mediation practice is limited to assisting couples faced with the uniquely difficult challenge of separating their lives through divorce, or of co-parenting children after a relationship has ended.
   


Larry has an extensive background in family law and divorce matters. For many years, he served as a trial attorney in public and private practice. He then focused his work as an attorney exclusively on family law and divorce matters. Having assisted parties in the litigation system with these issues, the evolution of his work to a mediation practice was an obvious next step for Larry.

A summa cum laude graduate of Colorado College (B.A. 1974) Larry earned his law degree at the University of California, Davis (J.D., 1977) where he earned distinction as an editor of the Law Review. Upon graduation, Larry received an appointment as a judicial law clerk to the Colorado Court of Appeals. He continued in public law as a trial attorney and prosecutor for the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, working his way to the position of Chief Deputy District Attorney within only four years' time. After entering private practice in 1983, Larry thought it important to maintain some contact with public sector law, and served on occasion as a part-time Municipal Court Judge for the City of Thornton, Colorado.

Throughout his experience as a trial attorney, Larry grew steadily more disenchanted with the adversarial system as it applied to divorce and family law. The same system which had seemed so effective in bringing about justice in murder prosecutions he handled during the earlier part of his career, took on a completely different look when it was brought to bear on family problems.  There, the judicial system frequently resembled a blunt instrument — often counterproductive and devastating when used to determine the fate of children (or even to divide property or determine support).

There had to be a better way. In 1992, Larry began to transform his family law practice. He undertook formal training in divorce and custody mediation at the world-renowned CDR program in Boulder, Colorado. His practice then evolved to "emphasize" mediation for several years and ultimately to be limited solely to divorce and family mediation.

Larry has successfully brought hundreds of couples through the process of mediation. It is highly satisfying work. And, it brings positive feedback. The vast majority of Larry's clients are left with no doubts that the solutions they reached were greatly preferable to ones imposed in litigation: they report that the mediated solutions reached with Larry were "workable" and they preserved the dignity of the participants. In addition, they were usually much less costly.



Larry is a  member of the (national) Academy of Family Mediators and a "Guidelines-qualified" member of the Colorado Council of Mediators and Mediation Organizations (CCMO). He is also a member of the Family Law Section and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee of the Colorado Bar Association (CBA), as well as its parent organization, the CBA. Larry is a member of the Metropolitan and Boulder Interdisciplinary Committees on Child Custody (a consortium of professionals of various backgrounds concerned with issues involving children and parental responsibility).

Larry is presently the Co-Coordinator of the CCMO Family Law Mediator Provider List for the 17th Judicial District.




Colorado does not presently have formal certification of mediation practitioners. The CCMO and the Family Law Section of the Colorado bar developed the so-called Recommended Guidelines for Mediator Education and Training, "to assist consumers, attorneys, judges, and other professionals in selecting mediators." These Guidelines generally require a course of training and education, a tenure of experience including oversight by an experienced mentor, subscription to a recognized code of mediation ethics, and active participation in continuing education in mediation process and in substantive areas of practice. CCMO provides a review process and has independently determined Larry meets all these standards for training, education and experience.

Larry views mediation as the single most promising new direction for the American judicial system. It is of vital importance that up-and-coming mediators, the caretakers of this emerging system, be well qualified and highly professional. It is for this reason that Larry remains active within his profession as a mediator.

Larry has conducted workshops or taken part in special speaking engagements at various professional events hosted by such organizations, including the 1997 Spring CCMO Conference and the Family Law Section program of the 1997 Colorado Bar Convention. He has presented or assisted in planning of past years’ Attorney Mediator Dialogues hosted by CCMO and the CBA. He has led training for members of the City of Westminster, Colorado on negotiation styles and mediation-related topics. Larry traveled to San Francisco in 1998 to present a workshop at the national Academy of Family Mediators (AFM). He was invited and participated in 1999, as one of a panel of judges, attorneys, psychologists and mediators discussing the new Colorado parenting responsibilities law at the Colorado Bar Association's Family Law Section luncheon. This Spring he was asked to present the mediator perspective on a similar panel of guests at CCMO's program concerning special issues in the drafting and preparing of mediated agreements. 

Besides providing workshops and training for others, Larry also maintains an active regimen of continuing mediation education for himself. In addition, he is a regular participant in a peer review group of other experienced divorce mediators who frequently meet to discuss changes in the law and their profession and emerging issues in their challenging work.

Larry also established and moderates the Colorado Divorce Mediation Discussion List, an e-mail consortium of Colorado dispute resolution professionals assisting families and couples in divorce disputes.

Larry has a strong understanding of the statutes pertaining to child support and divorce-related matters.   His knowledge was used extensively to resolve issues before they became problems in our mediation process. 
— M.H.

I would certainly recommend Larry’s mediation service for a variety of reasons. He was knowledgeable regarding the many facets of divorce as well as being compassionate and understanding, calm and resolution-oriented.
— J.D.

In my opinion, Larry’s greatest strength as a mediator Is his ability to remain calm and focused. He never appeared to take sides and always brought the emphasis back to resolution and moving forward.
— R.M.

I would definitely recommend Larry, this was not at all a bad experience for me, and not at all what a friend is going through right now, still, with separate lawyers. I wanted a fair resolution to our divorce and feel very much that is what I got.
— K.B.

It was an easy transition, and a comfortable atmosphere when we were all working together towards a fair outcome. Because we had children to consider, it also increased our mutual understanding of the other’s circumstances. It made everything more civil and agreeable.
— S.B.

In terms of cost, the value is far and away superior to paying two lawyers. My ex-husband and I have no disputes over our settlement. Neither feels like he or she got taken or cheated. We designed our own settlement with the invaluable assistance of Larry’s guidance, knowledge, focus and cool head.
— R.M.

The information about taxes and deductions was enlightening; I'd never thought much about that aspect of divorce before.
— S.B.