Frequently Asked Questions about Mediation.
We offer a free consultation up to 45 minutes so that all parties can get to know the mediator and ask questions about the process. If a party is unable to attend the initial consultation, we will offer an additional free 30 minutes. If you choose us to mediate your conflict, all parties would sign our Mediation Agreement and pay the initial retainer. Once received, each party will submit a confidential Mediation Brief directly to the Mediator and the first 4-8 hour mediation session will be scheduled. The process concludes when the parties have reached agreement on all, most or only some of the material issues. After mediation, the mediator prepares a Mediation Memo to summarize the parties’ agreements.
Qualified mediators performing conflict resolution services charge between $300 – $1,500+ per hour. Paul Costa charges $450/hr. Mediation is customarily split evenly between the parties. There may also be a fees to reserve a small conference room in a library, an office or even a small home in some cases if a neutral free space isn’t readily available. There can also be travel time, depending on your mediation location. The initial retainer to begin your mediation is typically 8 hours, 50% (4 hours) of which is non-refundable.
It is a confidential document, provided directly to the mediator by each party prior to scheduling the first mediation. This document helps the mediator get familiar with the issue(s) and each party’s position(s) before coming together. This document helps save time and fees by getting the mediator acquainted with your situation.
A Mediation Memo is a post-mediation reference document summarizing the agreements reached during mediation. It will not be signed by the parties or the mediator. We recommend leveraging the memo to work with your legal advisors to memorialize the agreement(s) in a legally binding agreement or a court ordered judgment, whichever is appropriate to your situation.
Simply propose it. Share our website and mention our free initial consultation. Additionally you can reference the websites for jamsadr.com and/or adrservices.com (large well-respected ADR organizations who primarily provide arbitration services, but also provide information on mediation services) to read additional thoughts about the ADR processes, including mediation.
Mediation is successful over 80% of the time for business matters and slightly less than 80% for family matters. Some mediations can conclude in several hours and others require multiple 8 hour sessions. There is no way to guarantee a complete resolution on all material points of contention or to estimate the hours needed. Many mediations finish in only 6-12 hours. It ultimately depends on the participants active good faith effort and your situation.
Yes, however, we only conduct in-person mediations. We feel that there are too many subtle benefits of in-person communication that are lost in remote video sessions. There are also too many opportunities for one party to unfairly imbalance the conversation beyond the mediators’ control in a remote setting.
Yes. However, there will be times when the conversation becomes intense and remains constructive. In those situations, you will be encouraged to push through bring uncomfortable and remain talking, so long as things are moving forward toward resolution. At no time in the mediation process will unkindness or name calling be tolerated. During mediation, we will eliminate much of the toxic behavior that may have preceded our sessions. Mediation is a time to resolve conflict, not an opportunity to continue your fight, get even or keep score.
Mediation is a voluntary process and all parties must participate in good faith. Acting in good faith during a mediation means that each participant will listen, communicate honestly, make a sincere attempt to be reasonable and compromise. Mediation, if used during litigation, where Attorneys are deemed to be using it for free discovery, will be shut down immediately. If parties themselves are not participating and the mediation is not moving forward, the mediator can call an impasse on a sticking point that will be put in the proverbial parking lot, which may or may not be revisited later. If the mediation and possible necessary caucuses (meetings in private with the mediator where the other party is not present) are ineffective at moving toward compromise(s), the mediator can call an impasse on the entire process with good cause. Successful mediation depends on your active participation and your ability to adjust your approach to your conflict and see the things that got you here differently.
Please remember the benefits first. You, the participants, are designing your own solution. Not a court or an arbitrator who does not know, or likely care, about every other aspect of your life. Your mediated solution can be as complex or simple as you and your situation needs. You will use the Mediation Memo to work with an Attorney to draft a legally binding and enforceable settlement agreement. In the case of divorce, you should hire a Legal Document Assistant (in California) or a Family Law Attorney to prepare a Judgment to be filed with the court.
No, Mediators are not licensed professionals. Yes, mediation is protected under California law in order to promote effective communication. California’s mediation confidentiality laws are laid out in Sections 703.5 and 1115 to 1129, inclusive, of the Evidence Code. These laws establish the confidentiality of mediation and limit the disclosure, admissibility, and a court’s consideration of communication, writings, and conduct in connection with a mediation. A mediator cannot testify in any subsequent civil proceeding about any communication or conduct occurring at, or in connection with, a mediation.
Yes, there are three main styles of mediation. We are a facilitative mediators. As such, our main goal during the mediation process is to continue to move the conversation forward toward conflict resolution, while remaining neutral. We will call out counter-productive ideas, insincere offers or other destructive behavior. If either party’s energy is still in the stage of trying to hurt the other party, facilitative mediation is not for you. Evaluative/Authoritative mediation is often ideal when there is a special technical nuance to the conflict that needs advice and opinions from an expert in that particular area of the law (this style can feel more like arbitration). The third style is of mediation is transformative, which leverages more psychology, and while not to the degree of therapy, will likely include more time spent on the origins of certain feelings. Our style of facilitative mediation stays rooted in the present and focuses on moving a conversation forward to a solution. Any style of mediation will be filled with plenty of emotions, and hopefully some healing too.
They are very different. We’ve discussed mediation elsewhere at length, please see above. Arbitration is a binding process where an Arbitrator is often an Attorney or a retired Judge with a specialty in a particular area of the law such as Real Estate, Securities/SEC or Employment Law for example. Arbitrators hear the facts from both parties and render a legally binding decision based on those facts and the applicable laws. The participants do not contribute to any the details handed down in the conflict’s resolution. For more information about arbitration, please feel free to visit jamsadr.com or adrservices.com.
Mediation is not appropriate in matters where there is a need for a full public record, criminal matters, multi-party real estate/development/construction matters, divorce matters where there’s a DVRO in place, and many EEOC situations such as cases involving employment applicants, former employees, workplace harassment, adverse actions, class actions, when authoritative resolution of a matter is required in precedent-setting cases or when the matter in dispute has significant government policy implications.