Hybrid or Integrated Mediation

This can sometimes lead to a reluctance on the part of the participant to enter into mediation because they do not feel that they would be able to express themselves fully and confidently. This hesitancy would slow down the process and hinder the discussions which benefit from being free flowing and all encompassing. Traditional mediation might also, for various reasons, be inappropriate.

In this situation, or where a person’s lawyers think that they would benefit from a one-off longer mediation with legal advice on hand together with a more supportive environment, a model called hybrid (or integrated) mediation can be used.

The matter generally starts off as a hybrid mediation rather than becomes one as there is a special Agreement to Mediate which allows for the mediator to hold confidences made by the participants. It also provides for the lawyers to sign the Agreement so that they can be bound by it terms. This allows them to be party to the discussions in the mediation session(s) and advise their clients as the mediation occurs so that the participants are fully informed as to the consequences of decisions as they make them.

In this model the participants can remain in separate rooms (virtual or otherwise), and so it can suit high conflict cases, or those where there is domestic abuse, where their only option is often the court. As a result of the mediator’s ability to hold confidences, each of the participants can share concerns or hopes with the mediator which are not shared with the other participant, but which can help the mediator steer the discussions to where they is likely to be more agreement. The mediator has an enhanced role in the discussions and the availability of lawyers means that a proposal can swiftly made into a binding agreement and signed on that day if necessary. This is why it is sometimes called integrated mediation because the mediator and/or lawyers are more involved in the mediation rather than being facilitators.