These tips can help clients and their lawyers to get the most out of the family law mediation process and reach an agreeable resolution.

Mediation in family law disputes typically revolves around deeply personal matters. This demands sensitive handling by all involved in the mediation process, including the parties to the dispute, their lawyers and the mediator.

As alternative dispute resolution gains popularity, it is crucial to understand how best to approach the family law mediation process. The following tips are based on decades of practical experience in family law disputes. They are designed to help legal professionals and the parties involved to maximise the benefits of mediation.

1. Understand the mediation process

Mediation is not a courtroom setting. It is a facilitated process, brought together by the mediator as a neutral third party who helps those involved to reach a mutually agreed resolution. The mediator’s job is to encourage open dialogue and help parties understand and navigate the process. They don’t dictate or judge but facilitate discussion.

Understanding this dynamic helps parties to approach the matter with the right outlook.

2. Clarify each person’s goals and expectations

Prior to the mediation, the mediator should be in a position to speak with each of the parties briefly and with each of their lawyers briefly, more as an introduction in the days or week leading up to the mediation.

As the mediation unfolds, it is important that the mediator is in a position to ascertain what each party wants and hopes to achieve from the process. This knowledge of what the parties want and hope to achieve helps the mediator, during the course of the mediation, working with the parties to clarify their expectations and goals. Also it will allow the mediator to test and challenge the expectations, to ensure there is a clear understanding of what the parties are trying to achieve against the practical realities of the matter.

3. Tap into the mediator’s knowledge and experience

Mediators are more than just facilitators. They are educators too. Disputing parties and their lawyers should tap into this knowledge, ensuring the mediator helps each person to better understand the process, the key legal parameters and the potential impact of their choices. The mediator’s focus should be to empower parties to make informed decisions and alleviate misunderstandings, fostering a smoother resolution process.

4. Keep the broader picture in mind

Mediation is broader than resolving legal disputes. It helps parties regain control at a time when they are otherwise facing significant uncertainties. It aids in making decisions that suit their unique family context. Parties to the dispute should consider long-term implications of their choices, rather than focusing on immediate disagreements. Aided by the mediator, this means finding a degree of compromise on the finer points, without losing sight of the parties’ broader goals.

5. Ensure that each party understands and owns the outcome

It is important that the parties actively shape the outcome. The mediator is there to assist them in the process and guide them to a resolution, but they are the ones who need to live with the decisions made at mediation. Ensuring that each person is actively involved in the mediation builds their sense of ownership over the process. It also reduces post-settlement dissatisfaction while enhancing commitment to implementing the agreed outcomes.

Conclusion

Applying these tips, family law mediation can lead to resolutions that satisfy all parties involved and avoid further disputes and costly litigation. This method of dispute resolution places greater control back in the hands of the parties, allowing them to find common ground and a shared commitment to move their family relationships forward.

Further information

Read more about our family law mediation services or contact mediator Chris Ward to find out more.