So many times, when we ask clients for their goals, we hear them say that they want fairness. I usually like to ask them what fairness means to them. I like to question whether they believe that what they see as fair will be the same thing that their spouse sees as fair.
I asked ChatGPT the question:
Fairness refers to the quality of being just, equitable, and impartial. It involves treating people with equality and without bias, ensuring that decisions and actions are guided by principles of justice.
I then asked Google and got the following quotation from a blog from Jewish Family Services Organizations:
“Fair” does not mean “equal,” even though equal opportunity for equal benefit is central to its meaning. Fairness does not mean that everybody gets what they want. Rather it means that everybody in the group has an equal opportunity to benefit.
I like this definition the best. Share your definition of fairness or tell us how you handle a client who says all they want is fairness in their settlement.
After 28 years of family law practice, I just recently read, in a jazz magazine, the best explanation known to me, of the difference between equality and equity:
. . . the former is about allocating the same resources or opportunities to both parties, and the latter recognizes different circumstances with the aim of reaching an equal outcome.
Michael Fagien, Publisher’s Letter, Jazziz Magazine, Fall 2023 (discussing an issue of the magazine showcasing only female jazz artists).