I felt very confident in your ability to help us mediate, from our very first meeting, and am happy with what we have achieved today.
I understand that we did not have a final resolution, however, we have made big steps in the right direction, which is better than we have achieved in any other mediations.
I believe that your different approach to mediating has helped us reach some common ground, and I appreciate your suggestion of “shuffling time” from our first meeting.
It definitely helped me to approach this differently too.
I would like to say that I found your process very helpful, informative and gave me confidence on what to except as I was very nervous about this day coming.
I found our pre-phone call meeting to get to know each other and for me to understand how the mediation will take place and work and how I should prepare myself was very helpful. The work sheet that you supplied me gave me the foundations to prepare myself.
I would also like to say that from the initial phone call I found you to be a very sincere which gave me confidence that the meditation was in good hands with you conducting it.
I would like to thank you again Joseph for being a great communicator, having a very positive and pleasant demeaner which boosted my confidence and was such a stress relief for getting me through that day and I would recommend you to anyone.
I was very comfortable and think my client was also, in how you responded to her especially given her experience during the relationship.
As a practitioner I find it really useful when a mediator provides a balance sheet as you did breaking down the position of each party and comparing with potential court outcomes based on previous decisions. Litigation is a really uncertain process but providing this information to clients and their legal representatives enables them to assess the advice they have been given or have given and manage the risk of litigation while feeling reassured that the outcome they may settle for is in the “ballpark”.
I also think it is really helpful to start as you did with “what do you hope to achieve?”. This helps clients to focus on the outcome that is most useful or practical for them rather than the one they think they deserve or have a right to.
Finally, I have found shuttle conferences the best way to move through the issues and focus on the relevant ones even in circumstances where there is little power imbalance between the clients. It enables the client to be more business like especially when negotiating property division.
I am hesitant to say I enjoyed the day for obvious reason, however you made the day as good as it could be.
By being patient, reasonable and truthful I feel like you allowed both [my former partner] and I to both be heard.
Thank you so much for your hard work today.
Your expertise, patience and knowledge really shone through and without that i am certain we would not have reached an agreement.
Your initial meeting with me was not only very informative but also set some guidelines, parameters and expectations.
You really are an expert in your field with knowledge second to none. Your ability to “read the room“ helped us today.
Let me thank you sincerely for the role you played today, I really respect your experience, guidance and your professionalism throughout your handling of our case. I felt as though you made every attempt to explain to me the position that we are in an effective and concise manner, it gave me much clarity about the proceedings. Throughout the day, you were very fair and handled the days affairs in a manner that alleviated the concerns I had about participating in mediation for the first time and you made a concerted effort to bridge the gap between the two parties.
Again, I would like to sincerely thank you for you work and dilligence in preparing to mediate in our case and your sincere effort and endeavours during the meeting itself. It’s my great desire that our case can move forward from this point onwards in a more positive direction and focus on the most important things in our lives, which is caring for and raising those two little boys
As always, the parties were in very capable and caring hand. I appreciate your time and patience today
It was a delight to work with you, and I greatly appreciate all your assistance today notwithstanding the way it ended. Your guidance throughout the process and ability to reality test proposals and scenarios I found extremely beneficial, particularly coming from someone of your experience and background.
I hope to work with you soon!
Joe, I thought the manner in which you conducted the mediation session, and indeed your whole mediation process, was excellent. The pre-mediation one-on-one session put me at ease and I felt instantly safe in your experienced hands in family court matters. Having never been in this situation before, I feared the worse and was very happy this did not eventuate. Your positive personal interaction-style during the mediation was reassuring, and I felt my views were listened to and respected.
Thank you again…and dare I say, you are in the ‘right role’ being a mediator Joe, and I am sure many of your previous clients would agree with me.
After separation, disputes can become bitter. Each person has expectations of what is “rightfully theirs”. Each can put their own needs ahead of the other, each can feel aggrieved.
With mediation & Conciliation, both people strive to come to a mutual agreement. It’s the intelligent alternative to resentful and angry disputes that end up in Court.
A specialist mediator and conciliator provides a way for you to try and resolve a stressful dispute and negotiate a mutually acceptable outcome.