Follow Through is Important in Golf, Tennis and Mediation

When a difficult case goes to mediation and when a settlement is on the horizon the participants may be tempted to move quickly and wrap up the deal leaving aside or not paying enough attention to what are then considered issues of lesser importance.

As a reminder, the aim of mediation is to avoid further conflicts. To do so a holistic approach of all the disputes dividing a family is necessary. As a result, taking a bit more time during the mediation session will allow an agreement that anticipates topics that may come up in the future and avoid later negotiation or further litigation. In other words, speed which lead to focusing only on the main disagreements can be detrimental to a good settlement agreement and jeopardize its implementation in the future.

Here are some steps you might want to consider when participating in a mediation in order to avoid ending the negotiation too soon and omit to discuss divergences which may backfire on you later on:

1. Get ready - Think Ahead

Be sure to consider all issues, big and small, which might arise in the future that would be problematic and work to resolve those in the settlement agreement. We at Mediation Path Silicon send, before the mediation session, to all participants a questionnaire asking them to list relevant facts/issues to be known by the mediators in chronological order.

2. Be Practical

It is one thing to decide on what to do and another thing to settle on how to do it. If you do not discuss the modus operandi that will allow the decision you made to be put in place your mediated agreement is simply useless. For instance, many times it is acknowledged that a house needs to be sold. This situation is the archetype of why an incomplete settlement agreement can be harmful to a family. Agreeing on selling a property without pre-determining how the sell price will be decided, how the real estate agent will be chosen and how the proceeds of the sale will be divided will most likely lead to the impossibility to list and sell the home.

3. Draft and Review Carefully

Be careful of the “cut and paste” approach to the preparation of a settlement agreement. Unfortunately, it is quite common, to see mediation agreements with terms which have been skipped entirely or decisions made not fully addressed in the document. Also, all the participants to a mediation must review the agreement in detail to ensure that all of the relevant terms are contained in the settlement and that those terms accurately reflect the decisions of the parties.

To summarize, mediation is a great alternative to court proceedings when conducted properly.

Mediation Path Silicon Valley, LLC is devoted to supporting families. Call us, if we can be of assistance in helping you resolving a family dispute. Please note that, at MPSV, working remotely with family members, beneficiaries, lawyers etc. via video conferencing or conference calls is not something new to us. We are here to help and allow you to be safe while dealing with important matters.