How mediation works - the basics

Summary

In this video, Michelle discusses the role of mediation in resolving legal disputes, highlighting its growth in popularity over the past 10-15 years, especially in domestic relations. Mediation serves as an alternative to court trials, allowing parties to reach amicable solutions in various disputes, from divorce to business issues. The process involves a mediator who facilitates discussions, aiming for a resolution both parties can accept. While not suitable for all cases, mediation can offer a cost-effective, confidential, and collaborative way to resolve conflicts. Michelle emphasizes the importance of compromise and understanding in achieving successful outcomes.

Takeaways

• 📚 Mediation is increasingly used in legal disputes over the past 10-15 years, especially in domestic relations.
• 👪 It's primarily used for creating agreeable visitation schedules for children or dividing assets during a divorce.
• 🤝 Mediation can also be applied to collective bargaining, employment disputes, and various business areas.
• 🤑 It's an alternative for individuals who wish to avoid the costs and formalities of court and legal representation.
• 👩‍⚖️ Lawyers generally prefer parties to resolve disputes themselves rather than leaving it to a judge or jury.
• 🤝 Mediation requires both parties to be invested in reaching a resolution and maintaining some form of relationship.
• 🔢 Mediation can involve multiple parties, as demonstrated in a case with five sides, requiring a strong mediator.
• 🗓️ The process involves a set date, time, and place, with fees and confidentiality agreements established beforehand.
• 🤐 Confidentiality is key in mediation, except when an agreement is reached and then breached, necessitating court intervention.
• 📝 The mediator provides parameters and educates parties on the uncertainties of litigation, emphasizing the desirability of a workable agreement.
• 💡 A successful resolution is one where neither party is fully satisfied, indicating a balanced compromise.
• 📋 Parties should request a term sheet to outline basic points and ensure deadlines are set for further formal agreements.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of mediation in legal disputes?

The primary purpose of mediation in legal disputes is to help parties reach an agreeable resolution, often in areas such as visitation schedules with children or division of assets in divorce cases, without resorting to a prolonged court process.

How long has mediation been prominent in legal disputes?

Mediation has been prominent in legal disputes for about 10 to 15 years.

In which areas is mediation commonly used besides domestic relations?

Mediation is also commonly used in collective bargaining agreements, employment disputes, and various business areas, as well as between individuals who have a dispute and wish to avoid court.

What is the general opinion of lawyers regarding mediation?

Most lawyers, if they are honest, believe that it is better for parties to resolve their own disputes through mediation rather than turning it over to a judge or jury.

What is a key factor for successful mediation?

A key factor for successful mediation is that both parties are motivated to reach a resolution and maintain their relationship, if applicable.

Can mediation involve more than two parties?

Yes, mediation can involve more than two parties, although it may require a stronger mediator to manage the process effectively.

What is the role of a mediator in the process?

The mediator's role is to facilitate communication between the parties, helping them to move closer to a resolution by understanding their positions and working within the given parameters.

What is the significance of confidentiality in mediation?

Confidentiality in mediation ensures that discussions and information shared during the process cannot be used in court, except in cases where an agreement is reached and then ignored by one party.

What is meant by saying that a good resolution in mediation is when 'neither party is completely happy'?

This means that a successful mediation outcome is one where both parties have compromised to some extent, indicating a balanced and fair resolution.

What is the importance of a term sheet in mediation?

A term sheet is important in mediation as it outlines the basic points of agreement, providing a foundation for a more formal agreement and ensuring clarity on the terms and deadlines.

How can mediation help parties understand the strength or weakness of their case?

Mediation can provide insights into the relative strength or weakness of a case by allowing parties to gauge the other side's position and potentially reach a resolution that reflects a realistic assessment of their situation.

Outlines

00:00

🤝 Mediation in Legal Disputes

This paragraph delves into the role of mediation in resolving legal disputes, particularly in the last 10 to 15 years. Michelle introduces the topic, highlighting its prevalence in domestic relations, where it's often used to establish visitation schedules and divide assets during divorces. Mediation is also recognized for its utility in collective bargaining agreements, employment disputes, and business conflicts. It's presented as an alternative to litigation, which can be costly and less controlled. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of both parties' willingness to resolve disputes and maintain relationships, noting that mediation may not be effective if one party is disinterested. The process involves a mediator agreed upon by all parties, who facilitates discussions in a confidential setting, with the goal of reaching a mutually agreeable resolution. The paragraph concludes by discussing the mediator's role in setting the parameters for the mediation, including the logistics and the confidentiality agreement, with the exception of enforcing agreements if necessary.

05:01

📝 Understanding the Mediation Process

In the second paragraph, Michelle explains the dynamics of the mediation process. She clarifies that mediation is not an informal trial but a facilitative process aimed at bringing parties closer to a resolution. The mediator's role is to gather information to maneuver discussions effectively, without bias towards the outcome. Clients are reminded that the goal is to reach a resolution that, while not perfectly satisfying to either party, is acceptable to both. The paragraph discusses the importance of obtaining a term sheet to outline basic points and deadlines, which will later be formalized into a binding agreement. Michelle also mentions the potential benefits of mediation, such as resolving major points early to save time and money, and gaining insight into the strengths and weaknesses of one's case. The paragraph ends with an invitation for viewers to engage with the content and follow the channel on social media.

Keywords

💡Mediation

Mediation is a process where a neutral third party, known as a mediator, facilitates communication between disputing parties to help them reach a mutually acceptable agreement. In the context of the video, mediation is highlighted as a prominent method for resolving legal disputes, particularly in areas such as domestic relations, where it is used to establish visitation schedules and division of assets during a divorce.

💡Legal Disputes

Legal disputes refer to conflicts or disagreements that are resolved through legal processes. The video emphasizes that mediation has become a central approach in handling such disputes over the past 10 to 15 years, offering an alternative to traditional court proceedings.

💡Domestic Relations

Domestic relations pertain to legal matters involving family issues, such as divorce, child custody, and visitation rights. The script mentions that mediation is often used in these areas to help parties reach agreements that are less adversarial and more agreeable than court-ordered decisions.

💡Visitation Schedule

A visitation schedule is an agreed-upon plan that outlines when and how non-custodial parents can spend time with their children. The video script describes mediation as a common method for establishing such schedules, allowing for more flexibility and control by the parties involved.

💡Division of Assets

The division of assets refers to the process of allocating marital property between parties in a divorce. The video explains that mediation can be a useful tool in this process, enabling the parties to negotiate and agree upon the distribution of their shared property.

💡Collective Bargaining Agreements

Collective bargaining agreements are contracts negotiated between employers and a group of employees represented by a union. The script points out that mediation can also be applied in employment disputes, including the negotiation of such agreements.

💡Employment Disputes

Employment disputes arise from disagreements between employers and employees regarding work conditions, wages, or other employment-related matters. The video mentions that mediation is a viable option for resolving these disputes outside of traditional court proceedings.

💡Mediator

A mediator is an impartial facilitator who helps parties in a dispute to communicate and negotiate towards a resolution. The video script describes the role of the mediator in detail, including their responsibilities in managing the process and ensuring confidentiality.

💡Confidentiality

Confidentiality in mediation refers to the privacy of the discussions and information shared during the process. The script explains that what happens in mediation is kept confidential, with the exception of situations where an agreement is reached and subsequently ignored by one party.

💡Term Sheet

A term sheet in the context of mediation is a document that outlines the basic points of agreement reached during the process. The video script advises parties to request a term sheet to identify the key terms and to establish deadlines for the formalization of the agreement.

💡Resolution

Resolution in the context of mediation refers to the outcome where the disputing parties reach a mutually acceptable agreement. The video script suggests that a successful resolution is one where neither party is completely satisfied, indicating a balanced compromise.

Highlights

Mediation has become increasingly prominent in legal disputes over the past 10-15 years, particularly in domestic relations.

It is commonly used by parties in a divorce to establish visitation schedules with children or divide assets.

Mediation can also be applied in collective bargaining agreements, employment disputes, and various business contexts.

It allows individuals with disputes to avoid the costs and court processes associated with litigation.

Lawyers generally advise clients that resolving disputes themselves is preferable to leaving it to a judge or jury.

Successful mediation requires both parties to be invested in reaching a resolution and maintaining their relationship.

A mediator facilitates the process, agreed upon by one or more parties, and can involve multiple sides in a dispute.

Mediation proceedings are confidential, with the exception of enforcing agreements that are disregarded by a party.

The mediator provides parameters for the process, emphasizing the uncertainties of litigation and the benefits of a mutually agreeable resolution.

A successful resolution often leaves neither party completely satisfied, indicating a balanced compromise.

Parties may submit information to the mediator in advance, some of which can be shared with the opposing side.

The mediator seeks to understand each party's position and parameters to facilitate a resolution.

Mediators do not aim to conduct an informal trial but rather to bring parties closer to a resolution.

A term sheet outlining the basic points of agreement should be requested to formalize the discussion.

Partial resolutions during mediation can streamline subsequent negotiations and reduce costs.

Mediation can provide insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of a case, aiding in reaching a satisfactory outcome.

The video aims to provide helpful information on the mediation process for viewers.

Transcripts

foreign

hi I'm Michelle welcome back to finally

revealed in this video I want to talk

today about mediation mediation has

really come into the Forefront in legal

disputes in recent years maybe 10 15

years primarily in the area of domestic

relations mediation is used by parties

to a divorce in order to most often in

order to arrive at an agreeable

visitation schedule with children or to

agree upon a division of assets in the

event of a divorce mediation however can

also be used and is used in uh

collective bargaining agreements in

employment disputes and in a whole host

of business type areas it can also be

entered into between two individuals who

have some type of a dispute and they

don't want to sue each other or go to

court and expend the extra expenses

um of an attorney although mediation

often does involve attorneys or involve

a prolonged court process that they

don't have as much control over now

every lawyer that you talk to if they're

being honest they will tell you that

it's better for you to resolve your own

dispute than to turn it over either to a

judge or a jury and this is taking into

com into mind that keeping in mind that

the both parties are motivated to reach

a resolution and that they want to

continue on their particular

relationship if one side or the other is

not invested and is no longer interested

in maintaining any type of relationship

then mediation is not necessarily going

to give you the result that you want it

might be harder and that is because of

the inherent nature of a media creation

how a mediation works is there's a

mediator which is one person who is

agreed to by one or more signs and

mediation doesn't have to just be

between two sides I had a case where we

went to mediation and there were about

five sides we had a great mediator that

is not

um a common occurrence but it can happen

we have multiple sides and you have to

have a very strong mediator in order to

keep everything straight and to keep

things moving along how the mediation

occurs in a broad stroke is that the

parties get together at a time and a

place typically if it's court ordered

you have to be there or a representative

somebody with authority either has to be

in the room or has to be available by

some type of technology in the event

that there's information needed or a

deal is reached the mediator will have

an agreement in advance for fees to be

paid and how much those fees will be and

when the mediation will occur they will

also have an agreement that what happens

in this mediation is not going to be

capable of being discussed in a court of

law it's going to be confidential the

one exception to that is if you have a

mediation where an agreement is reached

and then one party decides to forget

about the agreement or ignore it I've

had that happen we had to go to court

and enforce it and at that point

obviously what happened in the mediation

was very important to that case

so the mediator has the agreement in

advance you have a set date time and

place you appear the mediator makes a

this speech kind of gives people the

parameters of what physically is going

to happen where people are going to to

be located and how that mediator likes

to work the general framework is the

same every time the mediator tells

people about uncertainties of litigation

about the importance or the desirability

of making an agreement that you can live

with that you know about that you

intentionally make they will also often

say that a good resolution is one where

not neither party is completely happy

okay so if everybody's a little unhappy

but you've come to something that you

can do you can live with then that's

considered to be successful

the parties may or may not well in

advance they will have presented

information particularly if an attorney

is involved they will have presented

information to the mediator in advance

some that can be shared with the other

side some that cannot sometimes the

mediator will ask what are your

parameters if there's money involved

what can you do what what is the leeway

that you have what's your Authority and

that will not be shared with the other

side then the mediator meets with one

side or the other to answer questions

about what they might have received in

advance and get a flavor for this

situation then they'll go to the other

side then they'll start taking offers

and terms back and forth one thing that

you should keep in mind and this is

something that some of my clients have

had a hard time with I have to remind

them the mediation is not an informal

trial of your problem that's not the

goal the mediator is standing in the

middle trying to figure out how to move

the parties closer together the mediator

really doesn't care how it resolves but

the mediator is looking for information

from each side about the other but about

themselves in order to maneuver the

parties closer together if there is a

resolution they will have a term sheet

and they should ask for this if if they

don't offer it a term sheet to identify

what the basic points are because

everything will have to be drawn up into

a more formal and you know protective

agreement but the basic terms and

deadlines you want to get deadlines as

to when different things will happen in

particular when the first draft will

come out and when you can have this

signed by and in both parties will sign

it and then go their separate ways you

won't always be able to resolve

everything in the radiation but you may

be able to get one or two major points

out of the way for example in a divorce

case that will save you time and money

later and give you some certainty and

then kind of diffuse some of those other

arguments and let you focus more on

other issues it's a good tool when used

properly it can also give you an idea as

to the relative strength or weakness of

your particular case and hopefully

it will help you to get a result that

you can live with

I hope this is helpful to you if you

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at Finally Revealed thanks and I'll see

you next time