Mediation: process / objectives

Question

A Florida Condominium owner is initiated litigation against an HOA. The judge requires that both sides engage in mediation.

IANAL: What exactly does a judge expect both sides to do at the meeting? What must the plaintiff do in the meeting to ensure that they have met expectations?

Answer 1

A party's mediation obligations can vary wildly, from state to state, and even from mediator to mediator.

Fortunately, the normal protocol will be for the mediator to reach out to all the parties to explain how the process will work and what is expected of them. It would not be unusual to see any combination of the following:

• Ex parte premediation conversations about the process;
• Premediation statements from the parties about their position and objectives, which may be shared with the other side or only with the mediator;
• One or more rounds of premediation offers and demands;
• An in-person or Zoom meeting of the parties, which could then include;
• An opening statement by the mediator, usually focused on mediation protocols;
• Opening statements by the parties;
• Discussion and negotiation between the parties (less common);
• Breakout sessions in which the mediator shuttles back and forth for ex parte discussions with each of the parties (much more common);
• Back-and-forth exchanges of offers and demands;
• A final "mediator's proposal," i.e., the mediator's final attempt to bring the parties to an agreement with a resolution she thinks both sides will accept.