In this week’s New Yorker magazine (May 3, 2010 issue), Janet Malcolm writes about the Criminal, Civil and Family Court cases of a Queens, NY couple. The couple, who made news several years ago, were in the midst of a divorce and heated custody battle over their young daughter when the father was gunned down by a hit-man while at the playground. While the details of this case are unique, extreme, and, yes, fascinating, the mediators in us can’t help but notice all the steps along the way in the adversarial processes that exacerbated an already terrible situation. For less-extreme circumstances, we can imagine the benefits of conflict resolution in a non-coercive forum.