Hardly a day goes by without conflict. It may be that the dry cleaners have ruined your new suit your neighbor’s dog started barking at three o’clock in the morning and he was taking your biggest client with him; you just learned that developers will be building a 300 unit apartment complex on the wooded land down the block from your house; or your tenant failed to pay the rent for the third month in a row. The resolution of these conflicts can be stressful, costly, and time-consuming, especially if you are required to resort to the judicial system.

In the last twenty years, a quiet revolution has been taking place in the art (or perhaps the science) of conflict resolution. This revolution is taking place within the legal system, outside of the legal system at the community or grass roots level, in the workplace, even in schools. It is the growing use of mediation as a means of resolving disputes. It is a process with which we all need to be familiar.
Mediation is a process in which a neutral third party, the mediator, meets with parties in dispute and attempts to facilitate the resolution of that dispute. The mediator is not a judge; he does not make a decision about who is right and who is wrong. The mediator is a facilitator, a communicator, an “agent of reality” who helps the parties evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their cases and identify their interests. He helps the parties fashion a settlement of their dispute which is acceptable to both sides and which, when agreed to by both sides, becomes a binding resolution of the dispute.

Mediation is not a new process. There are biblical references to it and frequent examples of its use throughout our history. Its present popularity is due in part to the frustration people feel with our ever more complex, costly, slow, and adversarial legal system. Generally speaking, mediation is not costly; it can be arranged and accomplished quickly, and it has a much greater potential for preserving the underlying relationships of the parties who are in conflict. Even more important, however, is the fact that mediation is an empowering process. It leaves a high degree of choice and control in the hands of the parties in conflict, including the final decision to settle the dispute or not.

Although there are different models of mediation and different types of mediators, the typical mediation begins with an opening session in which the mediator explains the process and seeks the commitment of the parties to engage in the mediation in good faith, and the parties summarize their positions for one another and the mediator. After the opening session, the mediator will typically separate the parties into different rooms and meet with them privately in “caucuses.” In these caucuses, the parties are free to speak to the mediator in confidence, the idea being that if both parties confide in a neutral third-party, he might be able to help steer them in the direction of resolution. Mediators who handle divorce mediations often do not use the caucus method; they keep the parties at the same table. The theory there is that the husband and wife, especially if there are children involved, need to learn how to communicate directly with one another in the context of their separate status, and in spite of the anger which they typically feel towards each other.

In some instances, mediation is ordered by the courts. California, Texas, and Florida have had formal, court-annexed mediation programs for several years. In Cobb, DeKalb, and Fulton counties, there are mandatory mediation programs. Although the courts of Chatham County do not have a court-annexed mediation program, many local judges will order parties to mediate their dispute, and virtually all of our local judges are supporters of the concept of mediation.

There is a school of thought that the most successful mediation is one which is voluntary rather than court-ordered. The decision to choose to mediate can be part of the process of empowerment mentioned above. Parties who have chosen to mediate and agreed upon a mediator in theory at least, come to the table willingly and more prepared to negotiate with one another in good faith. Many mediators are also lawyers, but there are numerous areas in which non-lawyers act as mediators. In domestic disputes, for example, mediators often come from a counseling background. In community-based mediation, mediators come form all sorts of backgrounds; businessmen, nurses, law enforcement officials. At present, the mediation profession is not licensed or state-regulated, at least not in Georgia.

If you are presently involved in a dispute outside of the judicial system and you want to know more about mediation, call Mediation Center. They can schedule a mediation for you quickly and inexpensively. If you are involved in a lawsuit and mediation sounds appealing to you, discuss it with your attorney and find out in more detail what your options are. You very well may find that the process of mediaiton is one which can have a broad and effective application in the resolution of the conflicts which unavoidably arise in your every day life.