Mediation sessions

Sarah Higgins and Shona Alexander discuss the practicalities of mediation sessions, including how long the process is likely to last, and the format.  

Sarah and Shona cover answers to the following:

• How many mediation sessions are usual and how long do they last?
• How is safeguarding addressed?
• Does everyone have to be present in the same room?
• Which documents are needed for mediation?

For more information on the topics covered in the below video do not hesitate to contact a member of the team.

Transcript

Sarah Higgins: What do you say to people about how long mediation is going to take? Because I think for a lot of my clients that is a real attraction, the thought that you can get something done more quickly. Do you think that’s right in practice?

Shona Alexander: I do think it is. I think if people come along wanting to sort it out, wanting to actually reach an agreement, I think that if it’s a single issue you can generally get to that stage in three to five sessions. For me personally, I like the sessions to be 90 minutes to two hours, that’s it, because I think otherwise everybody’s had enough and is usually exhausted by that stage. And then after that is a case of sending the following up email afterwards, with a short email saying, “This is where we’ve got to, here’s your homework, let’s move this on”, you know, “How is this all going to work?” before we obviously end up with the memorandum of agreement, when we’ve got to that final stage.

Sarah Higgins: And do some people want them to go on longer, if they feel that they’ve simply got to get to a resolution? Or are you quite strict? Because I know that, for therapy sessions, the time limit is strict and you’re given a, five-minute warning but for our solicitors’ meetings with clients, normally if somebody wants to tell you something they get as much time as they need.

Shona Alexander: Yes, I’ve never sat there with the egg timer on saying, “Right, that’s it, now is the time to end”. I think you can see how a meeting is going and you can see how both parties are in that meeting and if progress is being made then you carry on, but I’ve had some meetings that I’ve ended before 90 minutes because it’s been clear that we’re not going to make any progress that particular day and so it’s better that we end it and say, “Right, we’re going to come back in, say, a week’s time and then resume again.”

Sarah Higgins: And you mentioned before about safeguarding and the issue of domestic abuse, which I think is a pertinent topic, really, isn’t it for mediation? So, how do you deal with that?

Shona Alexander: If there are any suspicions that there is domestic abuse or coercive control or where there are differences in the relationship and it’s going to be difficult for them both to be in the same room then we can do shuttle mediation.

Sarah Higgins: Right and how does that work?

Shona Alexander: They will both be in separate rooms, and I will get my step count up during that day, going between the two rooms, trying to see where we can reach an agreement. And there are cases I’ve had where we’ve started off having to have that type of mediation and then after we’ve had a couple of sessions, we’ve then all been able to be in the same room together.

Sarah Higgins: Oh, that’s progress, yeah.

Shona Alexander: So, it’s just working out and taking note of the dynamics of the parties to actually see how you can make progress and what is appropriate for them, and there are some times when, actually, parties will say, “On this particular topic, can we have shuttle mediation?” because of the sensitivities or how they particularly feel about it. Whereas, on another topic they might be fine to be in the same room, so I think there has to be that flexibility as well within the mediation that you set up.

Sarah Higgins: And do you think you lose something in shuttle mediation?

Shona Alexander: Yes.

Sarah Higgins: Apart from time; obviously it takes longer.

Shona Alexander: Yes, I do, because we go back to, as we said at the outset, there’s a different dynamic if you’re all in the same room together.

Sarah Higgins: Yeah, no, that’s right. What sort of information and documents are needed?

Shona Alexander: Well, it is the good old ID for the KYC. We will need the marriage certificate and all their current financial documents.

Sarah Higgins: Well, thank you very much, that’s been a very interesting canter through various mediation issues.

Shona Alexander: And if anybody would like any further information about our mediation services, please do get in touch.