The Mediation Session

Mediation is known as the intervention into a dispute or negotiation by a mutually acceptable, impartial and neutral third party who has no authoritative decision-making power but assists disputing parties in voluntarily reaching their own mutually acceptable settlement of the issues in dispute. Typically, Mediation is a voluntary process where the mediation lawyer has no power or authority to force the parties to settle. Mediation is confidential and without prejudice and the essence of any Mediation is that the outcome is voluntary and consensual. A mediation lawyer shoulders the same responsibility for advancing clients’ interests as any other advocate or representative. The context in which they will do this and the strategies they will adopt in order to be effective are, however, different in Mediation than in conventional negotiation or adjudication. The aptitudes unique to the role of the Mediation advocate include not only technical legal skills and strategies but also personality attributes and attitudinal sets. The latter are not taught in law school and can be quite foreign to the traditional role of litigators. These situations however are essential to the effective use of the Mediation process and to the lawyer providing a valuable contribution to a successful outcome. A mediation session is not a trial based on legal and factual positions. It is facilitated negotiation. The use of active listening skills and communication techniques allows the mediation lawyer to focus parties on the issues, while releasing hurts and problem solving. If they ask questions, they make them open ended, it is not an examination for discovery or cross-examination at trial. They pay attention, pick up on what others are saying and use that information to assist their clients. They highlight the positive, but does not ignore the negative. They encourage the clients to speak directly to each other in the session. For some situations, they separate the people from the problem. Clients need to see the mediation Lawyer Tweed Heads  as a problem solver.

Collaborative law and mediation are confidential settlement processes conducted in a safe environment intended to prevent further conflict. In collaborative law, the mediation lawyer is still charged with zealous representation under the Code of Professional Responsibility, but they do so in a civil and professional atmosphere. In mediation, the mediation lawyer does not represent any party and cannot draft documents for them, except for the settlement agreement itself. This is why it is important that parties to have mediation lawyers who understand the importance of the settlement process and hire mediators skilled in conflict resolution. The mediation Lawyer Tweed Heads  as problem-solver has the ability to analyze situations through a lens that sees both the clients and opposing parties interests. By translating client positions into interests, generating and assessing conventional and novel options to address the problem, counsel performs a valuable service to the client who often cannot step back from the conflict to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Perhaps most importantly, counsel can work to build consensus around an option which best addresses the goals and interests of a client or the parties involved.