The divorce process may be contentious, but family mediation can help you avoid the worst of it. While divorce might put you at odds with your partner, family mediation can help you communicate and collaborate. When you say what you need and desire, you avoid having to struggle for what you want. You may work out your disagreements and come to a mutually agreeable resolution in a shorter time.
Like any other procedure, family mediation works best when both parties put in the time and effort required to see it through. Making a few mistakes along the road might really set you back. It’s not a panacea that’ll help no matter what you do. Successful family mediation requires avoiding the most frequent mistakes.
Poor Anchoring Techniques
The initial offer or demand is sometimes seen as a game of chicken by attorneys, who fear showing weakness by acting first may hurt their case. There are benefits to being the first to make an offer, but only if that offer is well-thought-out and well-positioned.
An anchor is the first proposal made in a negotiation. It communicates to the other party the range within which you are willing to negotiate. Anchoring at the wrong depth or height is a typical oversight. A plaintiff can propose an unrealistically high amount, while a defendant might offer a sum that is so low it doesn’t even qualify as a nuisance value.
Both of these anchors are detrimental to the family mediation process, as they give the message that you are either not interested in participating or are entirely unrealistic and unreasonable.
Even if your initial ask is never your ultimate ask, it should be close to where you are aiming (after a few moves) and not a galaxy away from your walkway, which is the point at which you decide to risk it all in litigation. Planning ahead of time how you’ll use your anchor and what you’ll do thereafter will serve you well in family mediation.
Not Being Well-Ready for the Family Mediation
It’s possible that the clients may incur additional costs and wait times if the mediator isn’t given enough time to prepare for the family mediation. Lawyers and clients should weigh the pros and cons of the case thoroughly before entering into family mediation.
Take into account the evidence that has been accumulated. The probability of winning on dispositive motions and at trial needs to be calculated. Check the precedents that matter. Think about the hypothetical and legal issues your opponent could bring up. And as we’ve already covered, you should formulate a plan to reach your objective.
Furthermore, legal counsel has the duty to inform their clients of potential outcomes. It may be terrible if you don’t, especially if your customer has high expectations. In many cases, family mediation will be the first time a client has had any say in terms of a settlement agreement.
The time, money, and emotional toll of going to trial should not be overlooked. Many customers may not appreciate the advantages of a mediated settlement or grasp the dangers and unpredictability of going to trial.
Neglecting the Effects of Multiple Threats
Compounding the risk is frequently overlooked by negotiators when they prepare their risk assessment of the issue. In other words, negotiators evaluate each risk separately, rather than as a part of the total, when calculating the settlement worth of the case.
Consider the worth of your case under many scenarios, such as a victory, a loss on one issue, a loss on two issues, a loss on three problems, and a loss on all four issues. In a similar vein, you must think about the multiplicative impact of procedural risks, such as the danger of losing on summary judgment with the added risk of losing at trial. If you don’t, you can think the settlement is worth a lot more than it is.