Terri and I each had a mediation at one of our favorite JP Courts in Ft. Worth today.
We each had to use de-escalation techniques in our respective rooms.
When the parties started to talk over each other, I stopped them as they were about to declare an Impasse. I told them I had additional questions and went into Caucus (separating the parties into two separate rooms).
When I restarted with each side, I told them that I didn’t have any real questions, I just wanted everyone to step back, calm down and breathe.
The advantage of going into a caucus allows each side to tell their story without interruption and answer questions to help them navigate the issues. We become the messenger between each side relaying information that each side wants to share towards working out possible outcomes.
All mediations are confidential, including in separate caucus. We can not share information with each side without permission first to share. This technique allows each side to talk through their thoughts and feelings to realize how strong their case is and can help reach a reasonable solution.
After further separate discussion, it turned out my case was filed in the wrong court. End of meditation.
After de-escalating, Terri went into caucus, allowing a reasonable discussion allowing her to work with both parties to an agreed settlement.
Mediations take as long as they take. Mine was little more than a hour and Terri’s was 2hr.
The absolute with mediations is that the parties must decide to settle and what a settlement looks like.
It’s not up to us to settle, it’s up to the plaintiffs and respondents!