How should a divorce mediator be chosen?
Divorce is a legal process, so we believe that it’s usually best if the mediator is an attorney who has experience presenting parties for divorce for several reasons:
The law is complex, with many different possibilities. An attorney will have the depth of experience to provide you with more options, better options, to resolve your divorce.
The law is constantly changing. An attorney will be aware of these changes.
It is important to be comfortable with your mediator, we suggest you learn the following:
Find out how many cases they have mediated and over what time period. It takes experience, perhaps even hundreds of cases before a mediator is truly effective.
Ask them about their mediation training. Have they only had the basic training?
Find a mediator who has made a commitment to work on their mediation skills, not just their litigation skills. As we mentioned above, it’s wise to choose a mediator that has litigated, but you really want someone committed and focused on being a mediator.
Find out if they have training as a transformative mediator. A transformative mediator may transform the relationships between the spouses.
Finally, find out if the mediator has special training to work with high conflict individuals, and/or personality disorders.