Can a Mediator Give Legal Advice?
A mediator’s role is to facilitate an agreement with both parties. The mediator is a neutral party and represents both parties to the mediation. This would be the father and mother in a custody matter, or the husband and wife in a separation/divorce matter. An attorney can only represent one of the parties. Even if your mediator is an attorney by trade, that mediator for that mediation is not your attorney. The mediator does not give legal advice to either party.
A mediated divorce has many benefits. Primarily, it’s the non-adversarial process and the informality outside of the courtroom that my clients appreciate. Communication and compromise are helpful for your understanding and agreement while trying to resolve some difficult issues. In addition to this, it is cost-effective and much quicker to resolve. It is important to understand that before beginning the mediation process, you need to have an idea of whether or not you and the other party can successfully work together to compromise on the issues that are in question. Some people just are not on good enough terms with each other to be able to be successful in the mediation process and are really better off having a judge make the decisions for them through a litigation process instead. You must be honest with yourself about whether or not you should start mediation and if you can be somewhat amicable towards the other party, and vice versa.
Judith Goldberg is an experienced mediator. Click here to contact Judith Goldberg for your free initial consultation