About

| Rick Igou

Rick is a mediator, arbitrator and collaborative attorney who practices in Durham, North Carolina.

He is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission as a Superior Court, Family Financial and Clerk of Court mediator, and is also a Permanency Mediator with the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. He is a District Court arbitrator in Durham and a member of the FINRA Board of Arbitrators. He has completed the CPTI Collaborative Divorce Team Training and is a member of the Solutions for Separating Better collaborative practice group. In addition to his practice, Rick has volunteered for over two decades as a mediator, facilitator and trainer with the Dispute Settlement Center of Orange County. He currently serves on the North Carolina Supreme Court Dispute Resolution Committee’s Custody and Visitation Mediation Program’s Advisory Subcommittee, and is 2012 President of the North Carolina Association of Professional Family Mediators.

Rick’s first courtroom experiences, in 1988, while still a law student in the University of North Carolina School of Law’s Criminal Law Clinic, convinced him of the value of mediation. He learned that the mediation process, by resolving the underlying conflict that had brought his clients into court, eliminated the need for a judge’s decision about innocence, guilt or punishment, and produced a more satisfactory outcome than a trial would usually offer. Mediation, in short, gave everyone a chance to walk away from the fight. In 1990, determined to learn more about the process, he became a volunteer with North Carolina’s first community dispute resolution center, the Dispute Settlement Center of Orange County, and completed his first training as a mediator. Since then he has mediated hundreds of cases in a variety of family, Superior Court, District Criminal Court, workers’ compensation, business and community matters.

In contrast to the effectiveness and positive benefits of mediation, however, Rick observed that litigation can be an excessively expensive, lengthy and damaging process, and came to believe that the legal system’s adversarial positioning frequently leads to escalation rather than resolution of conflict. Noting that this was particularly true in separation and divorce cases, and especially when children were involved, he completed collaborative divorce training so he could offer an alternative to the tooth-and-nail, all or nothing, adversarial positioning that has become symptomatic of separation and divorce. His practice is focused on helping people craft their own, individual resolutions to disputes, disagreements and difficult mutual decisions without going to court through the mediation process and through collaborative law.

 

Associations and Memberships

  • North Carolina Supreme Court Dispute Resolution Committee’s Custody and Visitation Mediation Program’s Advisory Subcommittee
  • President, North Carolina Association of Professional Family Mediators 2012
  • Dispute Resolution Section, North Carolina Bar Association
  • Co-Chair CLE Committee, Dispute Resolution Section, NCBA 2011- 2012
  • Co-Chair Pro Bono Committee, Dispute Resolution Section, NCBA 2009 – 2012
  • Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration Panel Member
  • District Court Arbitrator, North Carolina 14th Judicial District
  • Solutions for Separating Better Collaborative Law Practice Group
  • International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
  • North Carolina Association of Collaborative Divorce Professionals
  • Mediation Network of North Carolina
  • Association for Conflict Resolution
  • Durham County Bar Association
  • Durham Family Bar
  • Section Council, Dispute Resolution Section, NCBA, 2008-11
  • Co-Chair Newsletter Committee, Dispute Resolution Section, NCBA, 2009-11

Practice Areas & Fees

Collaborative Law

Collaborative law is a contractual commitment from parties, attorneys and, as appropriate, other collaborative professionals to work together, diligently, in good-faith and with full disclosure, to resolve conflict without going to court. In the collaborative process, the law is not the sole criteria for decision-making — emotional, relational, financial and other priorities are also considered in seeking a mutually agreeable solution. If the parties later determine that litigation is necessary, the collaborative professionals must withdraw from the process. The collaborative family law process in North Carolina was established by the state legislature in 2003. Rick is trained in the Full Team Collaborative Divorce process and is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and the collaborative practice group, Solutions for Separating Better.

Mediation

Mediation is consensus facilitated by a person who is trusted, neutral and impartial. A good mediator helps people have difficult conversations by listening, exploring alternatives and encouraging need-based rather than positional negotiation. The mediator does not make decisions for those involved, but helps guide them to their own, mutually agreeable resolution to their dispute. Rick has over 20 years of mediation and facilitation experience and is certified by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission as a Family Financial, Clerk of Court and Superior Court mediator. He is also a permanency mediator for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.

Arbitration

Arbitration is a fact-finding and decision-making process. The arbitrator’s role is quasi-judicial, with the arbitrator acting as a neutral to render a decision after hearing evidence and argument from all parties. Arbitration may be voluntary, contractual, or court-ordered, and may be binding or non-binding, depending on the forum. Rick is an Arbitration Panel Member for FINRA Dispute Resolution and a District Court Arbitrator for North Carolina’s 14th Judicial District, Durham County.

Fees

ORIENTATION MEETING FEES

  • One hour orientation meeting for either Mediation or Collaborative Law: $75.00. (This amount can be applied toward any fees for any later engagement.)

 

MEDIATION FEES

  • Administrative fee : $100.00 (one time charge)
  • Mediation fee : $150.00/hr (minimum charge of 1 hour)
  • Travel fee : No charge for travel within 1 1/2 hours (one way) of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill. Cost of further travel or overnight stay negotiable.
  • Postponement/Cancellation Fee: Based on Rule 7(E)(4) of the Rules governing Mediated settlement conferences in North Carolina, but may be waived for good cause. Please contact Rick for details.

 

COLLABORATIVE LAW FEES

  • Basic Fee: $175.00/hr. A deposit may be required.
  • Flat Fee: Negotiable, dependent on complexity of the matter. Please contact Rick for details.

 

ARBITRATION FEES

  • Fees dependent on complexity of matter. Please contact Rick for details.

 

SEPARATION AGREEMENTS

  • If you have completed a Memorandum of Understanding through mediation, Rick can help you use it to prepare a Separation Agreement. Fees are dependent on the complexity of the Agreement, and can be based on an hourly rate or a flat fee arrangement. Please contact Rick for details.

 

SLIDING SCALE AVAILABLE

  • Rick offers a sliding scale, based on yearly income, for clients of limited means. Please contact Rick for details.

 

Location & Contact


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For more detailed information about Rick’s practice areas, experience, fees, or to schedule an orientation, please contact Rick at:

Richard J. Igou
1007 Vickers Avenue
Durham, NC 27707
919.682.3517
rick@rjigou.com

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Links

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Solutions for Separating Better Collaborative Practice Group International Academy of Collaborative Professionals North Carolina Association of Professional Family Mediators North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission NC Association of Collaborative Divorce Professionals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer

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“Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often the real loser: in fees, expenses and waste of time. As a Peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good person.” -- Abraham Lincoln