MCGRATH DISPUTE RESOLUTION - Key Persons
Denise Eschenbach is the office manager at McGrath Dispute Resolution, LLC. Please contact Denise for scheduling or other inquiries at Denise@mcgrathdisputeresolution.com
Job Titles:
- Education / University of Minnesota Law School
Kevin McGrath returned to private practice in January of 2011 after serving as a Referee in the Hennepin County Family Court for nearly five years. Kevin's tenure at the Family Court included serving as Lead Referee. Kevin now operates McGrath Dispute Resolution, LLC, where he solely focuses on providing a variety of dispute resolution services to families in transition.
Prior to joining the Family Court, he was a partner in the Bloomington law firm of Jensen, McGrath, Mullen & McSweeney, PLLP, where he focused on family law and alternative dispute resolution. McGrath was named a Super Lawyer, was selected one of Minnesota's Top 40 Family Law Attorneys, and was honored as one of Minnesota's Top 100 Lawyers. He was and remains a member of the steering committee that established the Hennepin County Financial Early Neutral Evaluation (FENE) program.
Kevin is a Rule 114 Qualified Neutral for civil and family law mediation, arbitration and evaluative matters. Kevin has conducted trainings on Early Case Management, Financial ENE, Social ENE, dispute resolution, legal writing, child development, and other topics throughout Minnesota and in other jurisdictions. In addition, Kevin was the primary author of the Financial Early Neutral Evaluation Handbook. Kevin is a frequent teacher at Continuing Legal Education seminars in Minnesota on topics ranging from dispute resolution, to motion practice, trial practice, and courtroom conduct. Kevin gave the keynote address at the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers Divorce Camp in 2010, urging the lawyers, accountants, mental health therapists, and judicial officers in attendance to consider the benefits of helping parties in family law cases self-determine their futures. Kevin has presented on multiple occasions at the Association of Family and Conciliation Court national conferences on topics related to child custody and parenting time.
He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and served as a law clerk at the Minnesota Supreme Court for Justice Joan Ericksen and Justice Russell Anderson.
Kevin McGrath is an experienced mediator who brings together the unique combination of experience representing parties while in private practice, helping resolving cases as a mediator, and the viewpoint of a former judicial officer in the Hennepin County Family Court.
Kevin McGrath has been at the forefront of the FENE process in Minnesota since the beginning, serving as an initial member of the Hennepin County FENE Steering Committee and remaining on the committee today. Kevin has been on the roster of qualified FENE providers since its inception. Kevin has taught FENE techniques throughout Minnesota and other jurisdictions and regularly presents on the topic at Continuing Legal Education courses.
Social Early Neutral Evaluation (SENE): This is a voluntary, confidential process designed to help families reach resolution of custody and parenting time matters in a short period of time after the initial filing of the court action. SENE is frequently performed by two-person teams who offer their evaluative impressions of the dispute and then work to help the parties resolve their differences. SENE can involve the gathering of limited collateral data, the use of other experts, or interviews with the children, if the facts of the case call for such techniques. In Hennepin County, the vast majority of SENE cases are referred to the Hennepin County Department. Kevin has trained evaluators throughout Minnesota and in Colorado.
Parenting Consultation: The use of a parenting consultant is a voluntary process that is not regulated by statute. Parenting consultants are given their authority through the agreement of the parties and through the Court's Order making the appointment. Parenting consultants in Minnesota make binding decisions that are usually appealable to the Family Court. Some parents opt to make the decisions appealable to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Most parenting consultants first attempt to resolve the dispute through a mediation-like process, but then have the authority to make a binding decision. Parenting consulting is not a confidential process and most parenting consultant agreements and orders provide that the parenting consultant may be called to testify in court of a party challenges the decision of the parenting consultant. Kevin strives to provide procedural protections to the parties while attempting to facilitate a settlement before making a decision. Kevin's time on the family court bench provides him with experience making decisions regarding children when it is necessary.