The Mediation Process

Once the Initial Confidential Conversations have established that the mediation process is likely to be helpful in addressing the interests in dispute, the mediator will send each party, counsel or GAL a draft Agreement to Mediate for them to review and sign.  

When all Agreements to Mediate have been returned to the mediator along with each party's portion of the retainer, the mediation will be scheduled, and the mediator will send each party and counsel a Pre-Mediation Questionnaire. This Questionnaire will request that each party and/or counsel specify their goals, concerns, and specific issues they want to address, and it will need to be returned to the mediator seven (7) days prior to the scheduled mediation.

Note: If any party or counsel does not agree to mediation or the mediator declines to mediate until capacity of a party has been legally determined, the mediator will send a confidential e-mail to each party or counsel simply stating that all proposed parties and counsel did not agree to the proposed mediation, and the mediator's file is therefore closed.