role: user

text: send exactly this.


role: assistant

text: Sending the saved draft file verbatim to Lisa now.


text: Sent exactly as written from `outbox/messages/2026-03-10_to_lisa_thanks_numbers_and_reach_out_to_allison.txt`.


text: ok - i'd like to craft our opening letter to Allison.


text: I’m drafting this as a proper first-contact mediator email and saving it under `legal/` so the legal Jimmy can reuse it later without starting from scratch.


text: I’m keeping the opening letter practical and low-drama: who you are, why she was picked, what process you want, and the few questions that actually matter at first contact.


text:
Saved draft at `legal/records/mediators/gerli/draft_opening_email_body_2026-03-10.txt`.

Text:

```text
Subject: Mediation Inquiry

Hi Ms. Gerli,

My spouse, Lisa Donahue, and I are looking for a Missouri family-law mediator to help us work through the terms of a divorce settlement. Your name was recommended to both of us independently, so I wanted to reach out.

We are hoping to pursue mediation first, outside the formal collaborative process, and try to work through the details in a settlement-oriented way. At a high level, we appear to have a shared starting framework for discussion, and our goal is to see whether we can turn that into a workable agreement without needlessly increasing legal friction or expense. I do expect that each of us may have consulting counsel in the background.

Could you let me know:

- whether you are currently accepting new mediation matters,
- whether you work with parties who each have consulting counsel,
- what your process typically looks like,
- your fee structure / retainer, and
- your earliest availability?

If helpful, I’m happy to send a short summary of the issues we’re trying to resolve.

Thank you,
Karl Stiefvater
qarl@qarl.com
+1 (415) 938-7275
```

If you want, I can tighten the tone, make it warmer, or make it more explicit about the trust-income / support structure before it goes out.