Contrasting Family, Commercial and Hybrid Mediation Models

FAMILY MEDIATION	COMMERCIAL MEDIATION	HYBRID MEDIATION
Mediator completes disclosure, no positional case preparation	Lawyers prepare case and complete disclosure	Can be either
Lawyers do not attend mediation	Lawyers can attend mediation, but don’t have to do so	Can be either
2-5 mediation sessions of 1 ½ hours over period of weeks/months	A mediation for one or half a day	Mediation for one or half a day
Privileged outcome, not binding and lawyers make it binding later	Mediator or lawyer/s draws up binding Tomlin Order or agreement to end proceedings	Can be either – but ideally lawyers attend at least at the end and draw up binding Agreement/Order to conclude everything
Usually the couple and mediator mediate around the same table	Shuttle mediation, mostly in separate rooms after plenary session at beginning	Shuttle mediation, mostly in separate rooms after plenary session at beginning
Mediator does not hold confidences, everything is open and shared except any confidential address or telephone number	Mediator does hold confidences and only relays authorised offers. Harder to discover bottom line. Secret negotiating issues stay secret	Mediator does hold confidences and only relays authorised offers. Harder to discover bottom line. Secret negotiating issues stay secret.
Less for lawyers to do, good for clients under financial pressure	More for lawyers to do, more preparation and more involvement in the whole process.	More for lawyers to do, more preparation and more involvement in the whole process.

Following the Focus tradition of working at the leading edge of ADR, we are very actively promoting the Hybrid model of mediation for Family cases. We believe this can be a useful additional resource for lawyers and clients alike. Clients have the reassurance of their lawyers being present and the deal can be made binding on the day. For all those cases that are unsuitable for Collaborative Law, it offers a way back to settlement at any stage in the case – before or after proceedings have started. In high conflict cases it is ideal – before the disastrous couple dynamics can blow the whole non-binding privileged deal apart – before they start arguing again – the deal has been made binding. In complex cases now family clients can enjoy the same support from their lawyers that they have always been able to enjoy in commercial and civil cases. Try it.