Next, the parties and the mediator will agree to a schedule of meetings, the ground rules for these meetings and the objects or goals of the process. Sometimes the decisions as to ground rules and goals are left to the parties themselves; it is their process, after all, not that of the mediator. If the parties are using lawyers, this step may be left out since ground rules aren't required or because the lawyers will be able to agree on the ground rules among themselves. Whether there are multiple meetings or not depends largely on the parties and the number of issues outstanding. Often a single half- or full-day meeting will produce a settlement.
===Exchanging Financial Information===
The parties will then begin to assemble the documents required to explain their separate financial situations. Normally this will consist of simply completing a formal Financial Statement, court form also used in litigation that sets out each party's income and expenses, and assets and debts. Supporting documents will have to be gathered as well, which will ususally consist of things like:
===Exchanging Briefs===
sdWhere the parties are represented by lawyers, the mediator may ask the lawyer to prepare "mediation briefs." Mediation briefs are summaries of the parties' relationship and each party's position and, when a position is legally complex or technical, an explanation of the law or facts supporting that position. The lawyers will give copies of their briefs to each other and to the mediator ahead of the first mediation session.
===MediationMediating the Dispute===
Once all the information has , reports and briefs have been gathered and exchanged, and everybody has 's had a chance to digest iteverything, the parties, the lawyers and the mediator will meet at one or more mediation sessions. The mediator will first welcome everyone to the table, and ask the parties to sign a mediation participation agreement before anything else happens. The mediation agreement sets out the terms of the mediation sessions, requires the parties not to use the discussions held during mediation in any litigation, and describes the terms on which the mediator will be paid.
The After signing the mediation agreement, each mediator will first welcome everyone have his or her own preferred way of doing things. Most will ask someone to provide a general overview of the table, relationship and ask describe what exactly is at issue. Each party will have the parties opportunity to sign a Mediation Agreement before anything else happensstate their position on things. The Mediation Agreement sets out the terms If lawyers are being used, they will inevitably do most of the mediation sessionstalking, requires but the parties not themselves will have ample opportunity to use the discussions held during mediation in any litigationspeak their minds... and they really should, and discusses the terms on which the mediator will be paid.it's their dispute!
After thatOnce this initial exchange of positions is complete, each the mediator will have his may keep everyone in the same room or her own preferred way of doing thingsmay split the parties into separate rooms. Most If the parties are kept together, the mediator will ask someone to provide a general overview of press on and work on the relationship and describe what exactly is at problem issue by issue. Each party The mediator will have keep some control over how the opportunity to state discussion flows, tamp the emotions down when things get heated, and keep everyone focussed on their interests and the law rather than their position on thingsemotions and the grievances of the past. If lawyers the parties are being usedsplit into separate rooms, they the mediator will inevitably do most alternate working with each party and will shuttle between each of the talking, but the parties themselves will have ample opportunity to speak their mindrooms.
At some point, the mediator will ask one party (and his or her lawyer) to step out of the room. The mediator will then chat informally with the remaining party and explore his or position in a lot more detail. The other party will then be called in for a private talk with the mediator, who will see where there are any points in common between the two sides. After that, the two sides will be brought back into the room to discuss where each party stands and where there seem to be areas of agreement. As has been said, each mediator has his or her own style. After this point, there may be one or more private chats followed by round table discussions, or there may be just one long round table negotiation session. If there isn't enough information for anyone to come to an agreement, the meeting may be adjourned to a later date to allow the required documents to be collected and exchanged. Assuming the mediation session or sessions prove process is successful, the mediator will often prepare a list of what has been resolved and describing how each point issue has been resolvedcalled "minutes of settlement. This list is ususally " The minutes are usually rather informal. It isn't likely and are meant to record the bare bones of the settlement in the expectation that a more complete document, like a separation agreement or a consent order, will be set prepared in legal language, and some areas may require later refinementthe future. The parties and sometimes their lawyers will then be asked to sign the list minutes to acknowledge the agreementsettlement that was reached.
===Formalizing the Agreement===
The final stage involves the setting putting the terms of the agreement into more formal language in a legal document which both parties, or, depending on the type of document, their lawyers will sign. Such documents include: minutes of Typically, a settlement, memoranda of understanding, will be recorded as a separation agreementsagreement or, and if there is an existing court orders drafted by consent. Once proceeding or the parties need to get divorced, an order that the document is executed it is legally binding and enforceable on both partiesagree the court should make.
Note that If a party changes his or her mind before the separation agreement or consent order is filed, the minutes of settlement can be enforced in court as evidence of the deal reached between the parties. In fact, in certain circumstances the mediator's notes alone may be enforced stand as an proof of the parties' agreement. As long as it is plain what has been agreed to and that the intentions of the parties were finally settled, the minutes or the mediator's notes can be used as evidence of a binding agreement which the court may use as the basis for an order.
If Note that if you are relying on a mediated settlement in court, it is important that the settlement be conclusive and leaving nothing else for further negotiation or confirmation. In the 2005 British Columbia Supreme Court case of ''Alcock v. Alcock'', the court held that a person the parties couldn't rely on an agreement that was "subject to confirmation" as a final, binding agreement. In that case, the agreement was subject to the wife producing financial information which, when produced, did not confirm the information provided at mediation.
==Tips for Successful Mediation==