The Mediation Process

Family mediation is a supportive process that helps families resolve disputes without going to court. It involves a neutral mediator who guides discussions between parties to help them reach agreeable solutions. This approach is less confrontational than traditional litigation, focusing on fostering cooperation and communication.

The Mediation Process

The Referral

Firstly, we need to check we have not previously given legal advice to either party in relation to the issues that are to be mediated, as we would not be able to act for you if we had.

You can make a mediation referral yourself or through your solicitor/other professional by either completing the referral forms on this website, or contacting us by telephone. If you have any specific questions about mediation we can answer these for you prior to doing anything else if you wish.

Assuming there is no conflict of interest, we would ask you to book in a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM) which is a chance for you to have a chat with your mediator alone to help us assess whether mediation is suitable and explain your various options.  We would then contact the other party to see if they are willing to book in their own assessment meeting so that we can take some background from them and explain the options to them also.

The Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM)

Family mediation begins with a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM). The assessment meeting will be with each of you separately. 

In this meeting we will:

• Listen to you explain the background and what you anticipate the issues will be that you need help with;
• Explain how the mediation process works and the principles that we must follow;
• Establish whether there are any domestic violence issues or risks to children which might make the case unsuitable for mediation or at the very least alter how we manage the process;
• Provide details of other dispute resolution alternatives available;
• Establish whether you are both willing to mediate;
• Answer any questions that you might have about the process.

The 1st Mediation Session

We will ask you to bring to the first session your signed Agreement to Mediate, which we will send you in advance.

We start out by reading our ground rules to ensure a level playing field for both parties in the mediation process.

In this meeting we will:

• Establish the main issues and agree with you the best order in which to address them;
• Gather any necessary information, for example individual financial assets or understand more about your child in cases regarding children, as this will impact which options and proposals are more workable than others;
• Time permitting, we will talk through options already considered and suggest new options to think about;
• Assess where you are both apart on the issues and consider ways in which any gap might be bridged;
• Provide a task list as a reminder of what you need to do before coming back for another session;
• Mediation sessions generally last 90 minutes, or in the case of the first legally aided mediation session, 60 minutes.

Further Sessions

In these meetings we will:

• Re-cap and address main points from the previous session and your mediator will ask you to provide an update of any developments since your last session;
• Go through any information that had been set out in your task list from the previous session;
• Ask for feedback from you regarding any legal advice taken, if required;
• Continue to explore options to narrow down the issues and bring you both closer to a compromise;
• Discuss with you the agenda and set your homework for the next session.

We will meet with you either until the issues are resolved or one of you decides that mediation cannot help further. If it becomes clear that agreement cannot be reached, your mediator will be able to give you information on your next steps.

On average our clients need between 2 and 4 mediation sessions to resolve their issues and reach a settlement, but as every case is different this is only a guide.

The Mediation Summary

If an agreement has been reached it is recommended a Mediation Summary is drafted, which details the proposal reached and acts as a written record for each of you and for your legal advisors if you have one.

The Mediation Summary is not a legally binding document and cannot be used as evidence in court. You would need to show your Mediation Summary to your legal advisor if you wanted them to put it into a legal framework.

In financial cases, your Mediation Summary may be accompanied by an Open Financial Statement. This document brings together your financial disclosure and sets out the figures you have given for the assets and income on both sides, and lists the supporting documents provided. This information will be needed by your solicitor if they are to give you any detailed legal advice.