Here's what you want from the judge in your divorce case: marital counseling. Sounds ridiculous, but apparently the idea is catching on in India, and it's sort of a different twist on mediation, which we've written about here before.

Still, it seems rather odd. Judges are essentially telling quarreling couples to go on dates — see a movie, go have dinner, spend some time together. And believe it or not, according to a report citing court statistics, about 60 percent of couples called off their plans to get separated after taking such advice from judges. It sounds like India's system has a judge sit in on mediation proceedings, and it's at that point in the process that this "go on a date" advice is being doled out.

It sounds crazy, because by the time you're sitting in a mediation session, it seems like you would be well past the point of saving your marriage. But that's the magic of mediation. It's a less adversarial process, and it can work in lots of ways that the traditional lawyer-vs.-lawyer model can't.

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