Representing a Client in Mediation: Pre-Mediation Counseling
When I teach representational skills to my students, we consider the phases of the mediation process: (1) counseling your client about mediation; (2) preparing your client for mediation; (3) preparing your case for mediation; and (4) appearing in pre-mediation, mediation, and post-mediation sessions. This post will focus on the first phase of the process. Later posts in this series will consider in more detail the role of lawyers in the mediation itself. Counseling the Client about Mediation In counseling a client about mediation, a lawyer may wish to cover the following topics: The advantages of mediation over litigation in potentially reducing the cost of and time expended in resolving the dispute. The disadvantages of mediation in that the outcome is not binding unless reduced to an enforceable agreement. That mediation creates no legal precedent. Whether the case is “ripe” for mediation. Whether the client has sufficient information or disco