Facilitative Options
Mediation. A process in which a neutral third party facilitates communication between parties to promote settlement. In a traditional, purely facilitative mediation, the mediator may not impose her own judgment on the issues for that of the parties. The mediator will not reveal her perspectives as to the fairness of options under consideration. The mediator will not offer opinions about the range of likely outcomes if the case were to be presented to the court for application of the law to the particular case facts.
Mediation is a very commonly selected ADR process option for family law cases. During the past decade there has been somewhat of a shift to other options which include an evaluative component. As explained in the Hybrid Processes section, it is possible to build an evaluative component into a mediation process. Most people who retain Ms. Manrique for mediation request her evaluative perspective to help them move past impasses which occur when the facilitative process has been exhausted.