Traditional Litigation
Traditional litigation can be anything from asking a judge or mediator to resolve a specific issue to full on court trial. Many lawyers in litigation believe in winning through intimidation without seeking a "win win" solution. At each step, the process will be more formal, any settlement will be close to what the attorneys perceive as mirroring what the law provides as a solution as opposed to what the parties believe is an appropriate resolution. "Discovery" is more formal and expensive. This may be the best solution when a spouse has hidden assets, has been abusive or is simply irrational.