What happens at a mediation.

What is a mediation?

It is a meeting to try to settle a dispute without a hearing. Everyone involved comes. I run the meeting. I do not decide who is right.

Are you on anyone’s side?

No. I run the process for everyone in the room at once. If I ran it for one side it would settle nothing, and the other side would be right not to come.

Should I get my own legal advice?

What you sign at the end of a mediation is an agreement, so it is worth having someone look at your own position before the day rather than after it. If nobody is advising you, say so at the start.

What happens on the day?

I usually start with everyone in one room. After that the parties often sit separately and I move between them. Some matters run that way from the beginning, with the parties never in the same room. You book either a half day or a full day. A half day is up to 3 hours of mediation, a full day up to 6 hours. Which one you need is settled before the date is fixed.

Does what I say stay private?

The terms everyone signs at the start deal with confidentiality. A caucus is when I meet one side on their own, without the other side there. One part of what happens in it is mine rather than the document’s:

What a party tells me in caucus stays in that caucus until they tell me I may use it, and I do not carry a number across the hall that I was not given to carry.

What does it cost, and who pays?

$2,000 for a half day, including up to 2 hours of preparation, and $4,000 for a full day, including up to 3 hours of preparation. Each party beyond two is $500, and if a mediation runs beyond the time the fee covers there is an hourly charge as well. All fees are plus HST. Fees are shared equally between the parties unless they agree otherwise in writing.

What if we do not settle?

Then the mediation ends without an agreement. Nothing you said becomes a ruling, because I do not make one. What gets written down is only what everyone agrees to write down.

How do I get ready?

Bring the documents that matter, not all of them. Know the number you would accept and the number you would walk away at. Bring someone who can agree to a settlement on the day, or be able to reach them quickly. Expect to be asked what the weakest part of your own case is.