What we mediate

If two parties disagree, both would rather not spend a year on it, and neither needs a judge to declare a winner, it is probably mediatable. Here is where we spend most of our time.

Divorce, custody and family

Property division, parenting time, support figures, who keeps the house, and the hundred logistical decisions that come with separating two lives.

Michigan domestic relations matters are commonly referred to mediation, and a mediated parenting agreement tends to hold up better than an imposed one — because both parents built it.

Before you bookWe screen every family matter for domestic violence before scheduling, and we will decline or refer a matter where mediation would not be safe or appropriate.

Business and partnership

Deadlocked owners, a partner who wants out, disagreements about money, direction, or who actually agreed to what three years ago.

The alternative is usually litigation between people who own the same company, which is expensive in a way that does not show up on the invoice.

Contracts and vendors

Work that was not delivered, invoices that were not paid, scope that grew, and terms that plainly meant different things to each side when they signed.

These settle well because the dispute is usually narrow and the relationship is often worth more than the amount in dispute.

Real estate and construction

Boundary lines, defects, punch lists, earnest money, non-disclosure claims, and landlord–tenant disagreements.

Construction matters in particular involve people who will need to work together again, and a mediated punch list beats a judgment nobody can collect on.

Workplace and employment

Internal disputes, exits that are going badly, and disagreements that HR cannot resolve credibly from inside the organisation.

A neutral from outside the building changes the conversation, and confidentiality matters more here than almost anywhere else.

Probate, estates and family property

Inherited property, executor disputes, and the older family arguments sitting underneath the paperwork.

These are rarely really about the asset. Mediation is one of the few processes that can address the part that is not.

Money owed and payment disputes

Amounts in dispute, payment plans, and collection matters where a workable schedule beats a judgment.

A signed payment plan someone can actually meet is worth more than an order they cannot.

Neighbours, HOA and community

Fences, trees, noise, easements, shared drives, and association disputes.

You are going to live next to this person either way. That fact does most of the work in the room.

Be aware

What we turn away

Mediation is not right for everything, and a mediation centre that pretends otherwise is selling you a session rather than a result.

We decline matters where the process would not be safe, where the power imbalance is large enough that a negotiated result would not mean anything, where one side is attending purely to gather information, and where a court order requires a mediator from an approved roster that we cannot supply.

You will hear this on the free call, not after you have paid.

Coverage

Where we work

We are based in Southfield and work throughout Michigan — Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties most often, and the rest of the state just as easily, because sessions run over video rather than in a room.

For matters already filed in a Michigan court, tell us the county and the case posture on the intake call. That affects whether a private mediation is the right route or whether you need something the court will recognise.

Not sure whether yours fits?

Describe it in a sentence. We will tell you whether mediation is the right tool — including when it is not.

Most disputes are more mediatable than they feel.

Fifteen free minutes will tell you whether yours is one of them.

Book a session Talk it through first