An important distinction between litigation and mediation is confidentiality and privacy.

Mediation sessions are held in a private office, with all parties and the mediator agreeing that information disclosed will be kept confidential.  If those participating in mediation will to have the mediator speak to anyone, including their legal counsel, the mediator is barred from doing this without written permission.

Litigation, or traditional legal intervention is different.  Although attorney-client privilege is a well-known concept, proceedings, including status reports, take place in open court and often result in the financial terms of a settlement being public.

Mediation allows those directly concerned in the dispute to maintain privacy as they work towards resolution.

Additional Reading: Carrie Prejean & Confidentiality of Mediation

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 9:57 am and is filed under Confidentiality, Divorce, Family & Parenting, Litigation, Mediation, Workplace & Business Conflict. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.