What is Mediation?

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Mediation refers to a process in which an impartial neutral, selected by the parties, facilitates communication and negotiations between the parties to help them reach a mutually acceptable agreement. Mediation promotes voluntary decision-making by the parties to the dispute. Mediation serves various purposes, including providing the opportunity for parties to define and clarify issues, understand different perspectives, identify interests, explore, and assess possible solutions, and reach mutually satisfactory agreements, when desired. Mediation is used to resolve a broad range of conflicts within a variety of settings.

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Why Choose Mediation?

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Mediation affords parties the opportunity to confidentially air grievances and tell their side of the story to an impartial neutral. Mediation is expedient, cost-effective and can occur at any stage in a dispute, prior to, during or following litigation. Successful mediation provides finality and closure on terms that are self-determined by the parties. In mediation, the parties can agree on economic and non-economic alternative remedies and terms that may not be available in court, in administrative proceedings or in arbitration.

 

As a mediator, I follow the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators that were adopted in 2005 by the American Arbitration Association, the American Bar Association, and the Association for Conflict Resolution. https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/dispute_resolution/dispute_resolution/model_standards_conduct_april2007.pdf  The Model Standards address each party’s right to self-determination, the mediator’s obligation to maintain impartiality, the mediator’s need to avoid conflict of interest, the mediator’s need to be competent, the mediator’s need to maintain confidentiality, the mediator’s need to maintain the quality of the process, along with other standards.