Mediation

***Did you know that the costs of absenteeism attributable to work-life
conflict are $5.48 billion per year in Canada!***

Don't be part of this statistic....use Workplace Mediation!

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Our Workplace Mediation Services provide a prompt, discreet and cost effective remedy to workplace conflicts, disputes and disagreements.

Mediation can be used to resolve conflicts:

• Between staff
• Between managers
• Between managers and their staff
• Within or between teams of any size
• With your customers, clients, suppliers, purchasers, funders etc

Workplace Mediation is suitable for:

• Conflicts or disagreements about working styles, roles or responsibilities
• Allegations of bullying and/or abuses of power or authority
• Allegations of discrimination and harassment in all forms
• Conflicts arising from the allocation or distribution of resources, rewards, bonuses, salaries, etc
• Conflicts arising from the management of change, merges, acquisitions, growth or downsizing
• Cultural conflicts arising from the culture of the firm or wider cultural differences between the parties

Mediation tends to be unsuitable when:

• The parties do not wish to engage in mediation
• You are in the middle of formal grievance or disciplinary investigation and/or you are pursuing formal disciplinary action against one or both parties
• There is a substantial power imbalance between the parties
• The parties will be unable to implement any final agreements

Control the outcome: You make the decision. The settlement , if any, will be decided by the parties, not imposed by a judge or arbitrator.

Control the process: The parties will select the mediator and decide which issues will be addressed, when sessions will be scheduled, and how fees will be apportioned. In short, you design the process and it can be well defined and predictable.

Decrease cost of dispute: In mediation, your business lawyer acts in a consultative or coaching role, with you or your executives. The lawyer does not have to participate in the mediation. In contrast, business disputes in court can result in lawyers assuming the important decision-making role on your behalf and the process is more or less out of your control.

Timely: Mediation can be scheduled and likely concluded as quickly as the parties need.

Confidentiality: Control unwanted publicity. Mediation avoids public exposure of business mistakes, internal problems and trade secrets. This is a significant benefit. A local or national company has an important interest in preserving its reputation and goodwill. Sometimes the negative costs of going public with a dispute can be huge and it gives your competitors the advantage.

Preserve relationships: Mediation can allow the relationship between disputing businesses to outlast the dispute. The very process of arriving at a consensus decision can be the foundation for the parties to continue to do business together. Going to court destroys relationships. Many businesses are also realizing the value of using mediation as part of an overall strategy to build and keep good customer relationships and healthy employee relationships.

Deal with the underlying issues: Parties can discuss the underlying problems and issues in the dispute including personality clashes rather than argue about legal issues. The result is usually that a more honest solution is reached, which leaves participants feeling better about themselves and more productive.

Discuss technical issues or details: Issues which may be too complex or technical for a judge to grasp in the rushed atmosphere of a courtroom can be handled in mediation.
Plan for the future: Parties can talk about more than just the dispute, they can devise a plan for a future working relationship.

Satisfaction with the process: Mediation has a high settlement rate and participants are generally much more satisfied with the process compared to other forms of dispute resolution.

Mediation has significant benefits for the business community. Creative ways of resolving conflict can add to the bottom line of any business whether large or small, and with some creativity, even provide avenues for profit.

The Process:

Upon your inquiry we contact you to discuss mediation, the issues to be mediated and your expectations.

We contract with you to provide mediation services.

We ask that a neutral venue consisting of two rooms and a waiting area is made available in readiness for mediation.

We meet all parties individually first.

We then arrange for all parties to meet together in a joint meeting with the mediator.

Where possible we produce the mediation report before we leave so that the parties can take it away with them. If not, we will send it to you within two weeks of the last session.

We offer ongoing support and follow up as contracted.

Costs: We charge you an hourly fee which starts at the point of contract to mediate. Our rates are very modest but our work is top notch.


Family Mediation

Efficient, Less Costly, and Effective way of resolving disputes.

Disputes arising out of separation or divorce can be dealt with through mediation:
 

• parenting plans (custody and access issues)
• child and spousal support
• possession of the matrimonial home
• division of property
• changes to an existing agreement or order

There are many situations when a custody and access battle over the children occurs. However, both parties are usually dissatisfied with the results of a court battle. Further, on-going parental conflict is the most damaging part of the separation for children. The mediator works with the parents to help them sort out what is in the best interests of their children.

Together they develop a shared parenting plan which can include:
 

• how you will make major decisions about your children
• how you will share time with them
• how you will arrange for your children’s support

Mediation promotes child-focused parenting and co-parenting objectives. It can help you to focus on your children’s needs and improve your parenting relationship over time. Those who have young children will have to co-parent for many years and therefore have a compelling interest to manage their relationship conflict with each other and to treat each other with dignity and respect. Family mediation promotes this objective, with the obvious benefit to your children and to your peace of mind.

Other issues suitable for family mediation include:
 

• parent/teen conflicts
• inter-generational conflicts
• sibling conflicts
• disputes between family members over estates and/or estate planning
• where one family member is suing another in court for monetary damages.
• marriage contracts and cohabitation agreements

Some situations are not suitable for mediation like in cases where there has been a history of domestic violence or a severe power imbalance. The mediator will screen for this during the first telephone call and interview with each potential client.

Benefits of Mediation

Your discussions are as confidential as you want them to be, the atmosphere is comfortable and informal, and the process is empowering and efficient. Further, family mediation is extremely cost-effective as the mediator helps you complete most of the groundwork to your dispute resolution or separation. You spend less on lawyers bantering back and forth over minor issues. Mediation accelerates the conclusion of your dispute, saving you time and money. Mediation allows you to preserve control over your future and the future of your family.

All these matters are determined by you, directly, without direct intervention by the court. Mediation allows for more satisfying solutions. Cooperative face-to-face problem-solving often allows for more detailed planning and more creative and satisfactory outcomes.

In the collaborative atmosphere of family mediation, it is much easier to discuss your ideas and after-divorce needs and circumstances, and then structure agreements to achieve significant tax savings for both parties. We offer financial advisors to assist you in every step of the way. This might save you the money you are spending on the divorce and help you to become focused on your new future!

Closed Mediation Is Confidential. It is “safe” to consider options and alternatives in mediation without fear that your statements or questions or concerns might be used against you in court.

In short, provided that mediation is recognized as the best possible alternative given your specific situation, it can assist you to resolve your conflict in a more amicable, timely, and cost-effective manner.

When mediation does not result in settlement, you can still seek other remedies such as court or arbitration. Even in cases of partial resolution through mediation, final costs are often reduced as the parties may have agreed on solutions to some of the issues involved in their dispute and therefore have less to arbitrate or to go to court over.

Of those individuals who reach agreement through mediation, most agree that the settlement was fair and that they were satisfied with both the process and the results. By minimizing the atmosphere of conflict through mediation, people are able to focus their energy in reaching creative and reasonable solutions to their disputes.

The Mediation Process

After a telephone screening and initial intake process the mediator will typically meet with the parties individually first and then together to complete the intake process and contract for mediation. The first session is two hours in length. Following the first session, other sessions are booked as needed. They are joint sessions which can last from 1 to 3 hours. The total number of sessions will vary depending on the complexity of the issues and the parties' progress towards resolution.

Each side explains their view of the dispute/issues and provides information. In family mediation , the parties' lawyers are usually not present during the mediation sessions but can act as coaches by advising the parties when needed.

Occasionally, the mediator may wish to meet individually with each party. Either party may also request an individual meeting with the mediator. Sometimes, to resolve the dispute , it may be necessary to have the participation of experts or others who have a stake in the outcome. The involvement of any non-parties should be discussed and agreed to in advance of the actual mediation session.

When the parties reach a tentative agreement , the mediator will write up a "memorandum of understanding" or " mediation report ". The parties are not bound to any proposed agreement arising out of the mediation process until the agreement has been fully reviewed by their legal counsel and signed by them. The parties do not sign anything with the mediator. Usually in family mediation the mediation report is incorporated into a separation agreement written by the parties' lawyers.

The Mediator's Role

The mediator is an impartial third party neutral who is not on either party's side and has no personal interest in the outcome of the dispute. The mediator is a facilitator who helps the parties to negotiate their own terms of settlement. The mediator is not an Arbitrator or Judge. He or she will not decide for the parties how the issues brought to mediation should be resolved, or what is fair. The mediator will help the parties to reach their own decisions based on their own individual sense of fairness.

The Lawyer's Role

In order to make informed decisions, each party should obtain independent legal advice about their legal rights and obligations prior to coming to mediation . Although you may choose to depart from a strict legal position because of the facts and circumstances of your own case, this should be done with full knowledge of your legal rights.

The role of counsel is to advise the client of his or her legal rights and obligations and to act as "coach" for that party during the mediation process. He or she will advise on various issues as they arise during mediation , review the memorandum of understanding and draft any other formal documents needed to carry out the terms of any agreement.

Confidentiality and Mediation

It is generally up to the parties to decide whether their mediation process is confidential or not. Whether mediation is open or closed is decided upon in the first session and cannot be changed once the mediation has started.

Closed Mediation: Most people seem to choose confidential mediation which encourages complete disclosure since they seek to reach a settlement based on all relevant information about the dispute. All discussions take place in mediation on an "off the record" or "without prejudice" basis. This is called "closed" mediation and is the most common form of family mediation.

The mediator, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the parties, will not voluntarily disclose the substance of any of the discussions which take place in mediation, nor the content of any documents prepared or exchanged during the mediation process. For mediation to be a confidential process, each party must sign an agreement not to call the mediator to testify in any subsequent legal proceedings between them.

Although the mediation process is intended by all parties to be confidential, the mediator cannot absolutely guarantee such confidentiality. The mediator may, under limited circumstances, be required by law to disclose information, such as child neglect or abuse or actual danger to the participants.

Open Mediation: The parties can also choose to waive the confidentiality of the mediation sessions. If the parties are unable to reach agreement on all issues brought to mediation, the mediator may be asked to provide a non-binding opinion on the terms of a possible settlement. The mediator's suggestions and recommendations for settlement can take the form of a written report to the parties and their lawyers which may be used in any subsequent legal proceedings. The mediator may be called as a neutral to testify at court and be cross-examined upon his or her written report, but will not be a witness for either party.

For more information contact debra@rdcorporate.com