Questions people actually ask

No, and this is the most important thing to understand about mediation. A mediator is a neutral. They do not represent you, they do not represent the other side, and they do not give legal advice to anybody in the room. Their job is to run a conversation that has stopped working and help you find terms you can both live with.

You are free to bring your own attorney to a session, and we recommend having one review anything before you sign it.

Not by itself. If you reach terms, the mediator writes up a plain-language summary of what you agreed — a memorandum of understanding. That document records the deal; it is not drafted as a binding contract or a court order.

To make it binding, your attorneys turn it into a settlement agreement, or, if a case is already filed, into a consent judgment or stipulated order for the court to enter. We will tell you plainly which one your situation needs.

Two things protect a session. First, everyone signs an agreement to mediate before we start, and that agreement includes confidentiality. Second, if your case is already filed in a Michigan court, mediation communications are also covered by the court rule on mediation confidentiality.

There are limits to any confidentiality promise — threats of harm and certain reporting obligations are the usual ones. The agreement you sign spells them out before you say anything.

Then there is no mediation. It is voluntary, and a session only happens if both sides show up willingly.

What we can do is send a neutral invitation that explains what mediation is, what it costs, and what it is not. It arrives from a neutral rather than from your side, which is a different letter to receive. Plenty of people say yes to that who would not say yes to you.

The default is that the fee is split evenly, because a neutral who is paid by one side is not much of a neutral. That said, parties do sometimes agree that one side covers it — as part of a negotiation, or because of a real difference in means. Either arrangement is fine as long as both sides know about it and agree in writing before we start.

You have spent one session fee and a few hours. Nothing you said in the session can be used against you, and every option you had before is still open.

Partial agreement counts too, and it happens often: you settle four of the six issues and narrow what is actually in dispute. That is a real result even if it does not feel like a finish line.

Talk to us first. In Michigan, civil cases are broadly subject to alternative dispute resolution, and parties are generally given an opportunity to select their own mediator before a court appoints one — so a stipulation naming us is often possible.

Separately, circuit courts maintain approved mediator rosters with their own training and experience requirements. We do not hold either mediator out as being on a court roster. If your order requires a roster mediator, tell us and we will say so plainly rather than take the booking.

Because they are at different points in their practice, and we would rather price that honestly than pretend otherwise.

Fred Ross completed a 40-hour mediator certification course and is early in his mediation practice. Stuart Sandweiss has spent decades in Michigan courtrooms. For a two-party disagreement where nobody has filed anything, that experience gap mostly does not change the outcome — and you keep the difference. For a litigated, represented, high-value matter it can change the outcome a great deal.

Yes. You get a link, you join from wherever you are, and the mediator moves everyone between a shared room and private rooms as the conversation needs it.

Video is not a compromise here. Parties who cannot be in the same room together can still mediate. Nobody takes a day off work, drives to Southfield, or pays for parking. And private caucus — the part of mediation where the real movement usually happens — is genuinely easier when it is a click rather than shuffling people between conference rooms.

We schedule a two-hour focused session by default, and a half or full day for matters with more issues, more parties, or more documents. Most people are better served booking a shorter session and adding time than blocking out a day they turn out not to need.

If you run long, we will tell you what the extra time costs before it starts. Nothing gets billed by surprise.

No, and many people mediate without one. But you should get advice on anything you are about to sign, especially where property, parenting time, or a business interest is involved. A mediator cannot fill that role, and any mediator who offers to is doing something they should not.

Anything where mediation is not safe or not appropriate. We screen family matters for domestic violence before scheduling, and we will decline or refer a matter where the process would put someone at risk or where the power imbalance is too large for a negotiated result to mean anything.

We also decline where one side is only attending to gather information, and where a matter needs a court roster mediator we cannot supply.

The Direct Track usually has evening and weekend availability within a few business days. The Counsel Track normally books two to three weeks out. Both calendars are live on the booking page — what you see there is what is actually free.

Fifteen minutes, no charge, no commitment. We ask what the disagreement is, who is involved, whether anything has been filed, and what a good outcome would look like to you. Then we tell you whether mediation fits and which track makes sense.

If mediation is the wrong tool for your situation, that call is where we say so.