While the mediation day is foremost in everyone’s mind, 15 minutes a week or two prior to the formal session can reap large dividends. I have been doing a pre-mediation conference for months now and am convinced that it is an essential component of the process.

And mediation is a process. It doesn’t start merely on the morning of the mediation, but rather has begun when the idea is first raised in a case — if not before. A good mediator does a lot of work on your mediation from the moment you schedule it. Day after day, the mediator will give your case undivided attention. Not all day every day, of course, but when your case is on the mediator’s work-table it will have his or her rapt attention.

A pre-mediation conference with attorney and the party should be one of those times. Every time I do one of these it ends with “thank you for taking the time to do this” and “I feel better now, thanks for doing this” and other remarks of similar import. Although it takes some time out of the lawyer’s day it pays off. Why? Because the client now knows the mediator, not just a name. They have interacted and nobody turned into a pumpkin. Want to learn more? View this 90-second video.