Yes.

Before any Mediation, all parties and lawyers present will be required to sign a Mediation Agreement, which includes confidentiality around the Mediation.

Any other observers who may be present at the Mediation will also be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

All communication during a Mediation is “without prejudice” and for the purpose of negotiation only.

The Mediator will keep everything that happens within the Mediation confidential. Anything that happens in a Private Session within a Mediation will be kept private to just the participants present in that Private Session. At the end of the Mediation, the Mediator will shred all their notes about that Mediation.

No.

The role of the Mediator is to encourage and facilitate the parties in the Mediation to reach an agreement that satisfies their respective interests.

Yes.

Mediation is a voluntary process and you are free to leave at any time.

Mediation can be an emotional experience. Parties may well be stressed, angry or upset, or become demoralised, or exhausted during the Mediation. However – often a pause for refreshments, or a re-framing of perspectives, can allow the Mediation to continue successfully.

Usually the Mediator will ask all parties to agree to talk to them for five minute privately before walking-out of the Mediation to help the Mediator to understand their reasons.

No.

Move Forward Mediation offers facilitative Mediation (not evaluative Mediation). This means that the Mediator facilitates the parties to find their own agreement to the dispute. The Mediator does not offer opinions, suggest possible settlements, or arbitrate the dispute.

One advantage of facilitative Mediation is that it does not rely on the Mediator’s perception of the dispute – there is no need to persuade the Mediator of the rightness of your case, or the reasonableness of your proposals, as the Mediator will remain neutral. This can help the parties, in private session, to be fully open with the Mediator about their interests in the dispute and what they hope to achieve. This openness can lead to ways forward in resolving the dispute that would not have arisen if the parties had been carefully protecting their positions.

Maybe.

Parties in a Mediation are not required to bring a lawyer with them. Having a lawyer present can be useful when drafting an agreement during the Mediation. Also, if the dispute is likely to proceed to court, if an agreement is not reached, it can be useful to have a lawyer present to advise on the likely outcomes if the dispute were to proceed to court.

Maybe.

Mediation is a voluntary process and neither party is compelled to reach an agreement. Approximately 90% of Mediations reach a settlement on the day, or shortly thereafter.

It is part of the Mediation Agreement that parties attending the Mediation should be fully authorised to settle the dispute in order to make it possible to reach a full settlement on the day of the Mediation.

Yes.

Towards the end of the Mediation, if a mutually acceptable resolution has been reached, the parties, or their lawyers, will draft a written agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) setting forth the terms of the resolution, which is intended by them to be legally binding, and which the parties will then sign.

It can be useful to have lawyers present in the Mediation for the drafting of this agreement.