Who Makes The Decisions in the Mediation Sessions?
In mediation, clients can fashion a negotiation strategy and make the decisions for themselves. In most cases, the parties are better off settling than taking their chances before a judge and have the judge decide their important issues for them. The mediator is there to help you communicate, weigh your options, understand each other’s positions and craft an agreement for your family. Decisions such as how your children will be parented, how they will be educated, and what the weekend and holiday visitation schedule will be are decisions that you will make. Although you will create the agreement, the mediator can help facilitate it.
You can decide whether you and the other party should create options and alternatives or whether you would like to have suggestions from the mediator. You can discuss these matters with confidentiality as opposed to having them exposed in the public courtroom forum. Many parties prefer the privacy of mediation. Both parties should define and focus on goals for settlement and avoid a focus on the past or on blaming each other. This is the best approach to a successful mediation.