What Happens at the First Mediation Session?

At the first mediation session the mediator begins with introductions of everyone in the room, lays out some suggested ground rules for everyone to agree on, describes the basic principles and guidelines for how mediation works and lays out some suggestions for how to talk to each other and how to listen to each other.

Then everyone will be given a chance to describe what they hope will happen as a result of the mediation, without being interrupted while they’re talking.

Together the parties and the mediator will develop a list of topics to be addressed and determine where to start. Then the real work begins.