We offer either half (3 hours) or full day (6 hours) Virtual Mediation Sessions with Erin Schaden. Please contact me with your order number and preferable times for appointments at the contact information below: Call for a free consultation: 805-758-8445 or send me an email to [email protected] What is Mediation? Mediation is a process where a neutral third-party facilitates communication and negotiation between parties in conflict in order to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. What is Collaborative? Collaborative divorce is a process where both parties and their attorneys commit to resolving disputes through cooperation and open communication, rather than through litigation. What does the mediation process look like with Erin? Steps to Mediation Process 1. One party will contact Erin Schaden Coaching & Mediation to make an appointment for an intake session. 2. Party 1 has an intake (one on one) session with Erin, which will take about 30 minutes. In this intake you will get to ask questions, briefly tell your story and Erin will prepare you for a hypothetical mediation and might give you some tasks to do so you are well prepared for the mediation. 3. Party 1 will invite the other party to come to mediation. Party 2 will contact Erin and make an appointment with her for their intake. Or Erin will invite the other party (Party 2) to engage in the mediation process. We will engage the other party twice, as a minimum, and at least once in writing. The other party has a week to respond to this invitation. That does not mean an appointment has to be made within a week. If you engage the other party yourself and they contact us, there is no extra cost. If we have to invite the other party in or if we have to verify that the other party is not engaging in mediation, there is a fixed fee for 1 hour of our time, which is in the amount of $450. 4. If the other party is not responding or does not want to engage in mediation, the party who initiated the mediation process can ask the mediator, Erin will provide options to Party 1 and possibly make referrals to local attorneys or other divorce professionals. 5. If the other party wants to engage in the mediation process, then he or she will make an appointment for their one-on-one intake session (approximately 30 minutes). 6. After Erin has seen both parties, she can assess if mediation is suitable for this particular matter. If mediation is suitable, she will decide based on both parties' intake session what the best way is to run the mediation session. If mediation is not suitable, then she can make appropriate referrals. 7. If mediation is suitable, the parties will have a joint mediation session. A mediation takes 3 hours if it's a session without lawyers present. When lawyers are present, the mediation will take half a day, or a full day and the prices are different. If you want to do a lawyer-assisted mediation, please let us know so we can send you the details. We can only conduct a lawyer-assisted mediation if both clients are able to bring a lawyer to mediation or it is agreed that only one client brings a lawyer to mediation. In the event that clients cannot agree on lawyers being present or not, we will only be able to conduct a non-lawyer-assisted mediation. 8. To organize the joint mediation session, Erin will send out an email to both clients and will ask you to come up with a date that you both can attend and a contract that spells out what is expected of everyone in the mediation, and related costs. 9. The mediator will type up the agreement (Memorandum of Understanding if the parties are not using counsel, a Marital Settlement Agreement, if the parties or at least one party is represented by counsel. She will discuss with you what the next steps are to make this document into a legally binding document so you and the other party can make agreements around this. 10. Cancellation Policy: After receiving the booking confirmation email and should you decide to cancel, a $100 admin fee will be charged. A $450 fee will be charged if cancellation is made within 24 hours prior the scheduled intake session. For joint mediations, the party who cancels the booking within 24 hours prior the scheduled session will pay for the whole amount charged for that session. Refund Policy: 50% of the payment will be refunded if you inform us 72 hours before your scheduled date about the cancellation. To Book Your Mediation – email [email protected] today!
