The British actress and the American singer/actor arrive separately with their legal teams at the offices of Wilmer Hale in New York's Financial District to begin their four-day mediation.
- Oct 5, 2023
AceShowbiz - Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas have had their first mediation session amid their messy divorce. The estranged couple spent time together in Manhattan on Wednesday, October 4 to resolve their ongoing divorce battle.
The 27-year-old actress and the 34-year-old pop star arrived separately with their legal teams at the offices of Wilmer Hale in New York's Financial District. The mediation reportedly lasted for eight hours, with the "Game of Thrones" alum being seen leaving the meeting at around 6 P.M. with her lawyer by her side.
The British star looked a bit exhausted when leaving the offices. She cut a casual figure in jeans, a white T-shirt and a green cable-knit sweater with white sneakers. She kept her long blonde hair straight and let it loose.
The actress was spotted leaving Taylor Swift's apartment, where she has been staying with her two daughters, earlier that day.
A hearing on Tuesday revealed that Sophie and Joe would meet this week to try and agree on the terms of their divorce, including custody of their daughters Willa, three, and 14-month-old Delphine, with the "Dark Phoenix" star's lawyer pledging to go "full hog" to resolve the issues. During the hearing, Judge Katherine Polk Failla also set a date of January 2 for a trial for deciding custody but she said she had "high hopes for the mediation."
Sophie's lawyer Stephen Cullen had told the court there had been "some difficulty" between the two sides in regards to scheduling a trial but felt it would likely last no more than two-and-a-half days as it only needed to cover a "very narrow" range of issues such as where the children's habitual residence will be. He insisted it was "essential" for the trial to carry out this year because both parties are "very young litigants" with "extremely young children."
Meanwhile, Joe's lawyer Richard Min insisted his client couldn't be available for a trial until the Jonas Brothers' current tour takes a break on December 9, and admitted he was neither "optimistic or pessimistic about mediation." He added, "Four full days of mediation is a lot of time for these parties to sit in a room together and iron out their differences."
Unlike Sophie's lawyer, Richard believed a trial will take at least five days and would have a "significant" number of witnesses, not just the former couple. He said, "These are two individuals who have a lot of family, friends, social contacts and business relationships that factor into their decision making and their discussions."
But Stephen argued he wanted to "vehemently disagree with the need for a raft of depositions" and told the court both parties had an "obligation to bring down the mercury" and resolve the case in the quickest and least expensive way possible.
