Divorce with Dignity Mediation Services - Official Site

Marking our 12th Anniversary in 2009

Overview

Divorce with Dignity Mediation Services provides family & divorce, and business/civil, mediation services.  Our practice is almost entirely devoted to providing mediation services. We are passionate about mediation, and obsessed with providing quality service at an affordable price.

All mediation services are provided by Anju D. Jessani, Accredited Professional Mediator, rather than associates or trainees.  Her Wharton MBA and her extensive experience working in the financial world make her uniquely qualified to conduct complex, economic mediations.  The mediation and legal communities, as well as the New Jersey courts, acknowledge Anju as one of the most experienced and competent mediators in the region.  She is also active in training and mentoring mediators.     

Having completed over 500 mediations in the past twelve years, you have the comfort of knowing that your mediation is being conducted by a true professional, who is recognized by her clients for her expertise, tenacity, and caring.  In their 2008 survey, Anju was ranked in the top 20 family/divorce New Jersey mediators by NJBiz.

Locations & Services

We are conveniently located in downtown Clinton, New Jersey, and also in downtown Hoboken, New Jersey. Please visit our Clinton page and Hoboken page for more information and directions for each location.  In addition, as a member of Regus/Corporate HQ, we have access to professional meeting rooms throughout the state, if neither of our office locations are convenient.  We are also willing to meet at your attorney's offices. 

Family & Divorce Mediation Services

We are completely familiar with the divorce and child support issues that relate to New Jersey and New York cases.   This is very important as family law is specific to each state, with nuances that can make a significant difference to the outcome of your case.  Our Divorce Mediation page provides more detailed explanation of the divorce mediation process, including a list of documents you might need to provide to your mediator at a later date. 

We also offer services through the New Jersey Judiciary's Administrative Office of the Courts' (AOC) Economic Mediation Program for Family/Divorce Cases, Rule 1:40 for cases that have not settled at the Court's Early Settlement Panel.  Additionally, for complex and high conflict cases, we offer collaborative mediation services, a hybrid of mediation and collaborative law, where we work with the clients directly, but have periodic five-way meetings with our clients and their attorneys, at critical junctures in the mediation process. 

We also specialize in providing post-divorce mediation services. Changes in circumstances as well as the child's age may necessitate new arrangements. Blended families, couples contemplating commitment, as well as families in crisis can utilize mediation to address/define financial and parental roles and responsibilities. Because of our urban location, we have significant experience mediating conflicts for clients with different socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. We provide mediation to families, stepfamilies, domestic partners, civil unions, roommates, never married couples, grandparents, and extended families, and are gay-friendly.

Additionally, we offer coaching/consulting to individuals going through separation or divorce, either through mediation or litigation, where we are not serving as the mediator. This can be especially helpful for clients going through court-ordered mediation.

Business/Civil Mediation Services

We offer business/civil mediation services through the New Jersey Judiciary's Administrative Office of the Courts' (AOC) Presumptive Mediation Program for Civil Cases, Rule 1:40.   In December 2008, Anju participated in training for foreclosure mediation to assist New Jersey residents save their homes.  On a private basis, we offer business mediation services through Executive Mediator Services (EMS), an organization of highly experienced executives in business, commerce and the professions, that helps resolve disputes and close deals by mediation, online, on-site, worldwide. 

As an experienced mediator, Anju also serves as a mentor to new mediators seeking co-mediation experience to qualify for admission to the roster of AOC mediators. She has also served as an instructor for training classes in Advanced Civil Mediation, as well as a facilitator for the Union County's annual civil mediation training program. 

We also offer coaching/consulting to individual businesses and organizations going through the mediation process, where we are not serving as the mediator. This can be especially helpful for clients going through court-ordered mediation.

Profile for Anju D. Jessani, MBA, APM®

Anju Jessani founded Divorce with Dignity Mediation Services in 1997. She is also a mediator with the firm. Her practice is devoted entirely to providing alternative dispute resolution services (primarily mediation), to clients who seek a non-adversarial, problem-solving approach to conflict resolution that allows them to keep in control of their case. 

Anju received her academic training at the Center for Family and Divorce Mediation in New York, and conducted her practical training through Hudson County Court's Mediation Program in New Jersey. She has served on the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts' Parenting Time Advisory Committee and is committed to making the divorce process more cooperative and respectful, as well as more cost-effective, and endeavors to treat every client as if they were her only client.  She embraces the concept promulgated by filmmaker, Bill Brummel that "Dignity is everyone's human right."

In addition to contributing to professional journals, Anju has also participated in media talk shows on the subject of divorce reform, and is an instructor for both divorce and civil/business mediation classes. Recently, she received special recognition from the New Jersey State Bar Association's Board of Trustees for her work on the New Jersey irreconcilable differences divorce bill, which was signed into law in 2007.

Reflecting her high level of training and experience in the field of mediation, Anju is an Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), and an Accredited Professional Mediator (APM®), by the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators (NJAPM). She is a Member of the multi-disciplinary organization, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC).  She is also an instructor for NJAPM's and the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education's 40-hour divorce mediation training program. She completes at least 60 hours of continuing education credits every year, exceeding both ACR and NJAPM's requirement for accredited members.

Having served as NJAPM President for the term of 10/1/05 to 9/30/07, Anju now serves on the board of directors for the Office of Immediate Past-President of this 400-member, professional association.  She was honored by NJAPM for her contributions to the organization at their November 2007 annual conference.  She also serves on the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Secondary School Committee, Hudson County, and on the Board of Directors for Safe Harbor Child Access Centers.

Anju brings extensive experience in financial planning, real estate, taxation, pensions, technology implementation and contract negotiation to the mediation field. She has extraordinary project management skills that translate into meeting client deadlines in an organized and calm manner, thus helping to reduce your level of stress as you work to resolve your conflict.

Anju holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (WG'83), and a BA from Douglass College, Rutgers University (DC'79). Prior to founding Divorce with Dignity Mediation Services, Anju was a manager with Price Waterhouse's consulting group, and most recently, a Vice President with JP Morgan. Anju has also served as a securities mediator and arbitrator. 

Born and raised in England, and of Indian ethnicity, Anju moved to the United States at age 12, attending middle and high school in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, and becoming a naturalized citizen in 1977. Her involvement in mediation and divorce reform arose from her divorce through mediation in 1994.  She is both a mother and a stepmother.