The Conciliation Program is a service of the Fairfax Bar Association under the supervision of the Conciliation Subcommittee of the Association's standing Committee On Professionalism. The Program's Conciliators are experienced litigators, with expertise in both civil litigation and family law, who have volunteered their services to help resolve motions and other preliminary disputes without charge to the parties in the case. The Conciliation Program is entirely voluntary and aims to speed up the disposition of cases and reduce the cost of litigation by helping to resolve the types of procedural motions and interim matrimonial disputes which tend to burden the system and which frequently frustrate the judicial system's goal of providing a swift and fair determination of the parties' rights. When Conciliation is requested, trained Conciliators meet with the interested parties, listen carefully to each party's position and attempt to effect a resolution of the dispute by helping the parties develop realistic and satisfactory ways for the dispute to be resolved without further intervention by the Court.
All proceedings are informal and confidential.
The Conciliator's recommendations or suggestions are not binding upon the parties and are not disclosed to the Court. Conciliation is available to all litigants before the Fairfax County Circuit Court whether or not the parties have counsel of their own. While the Conciliators do not give legal advice to either side of a dispute, and are neutral and impartial, they will endeavor to do whatever is required to assist all parties to understand the real nature of the dispute. Once the dispute is clearly defined, the Conciliator should be able, in most cases, to help the parties and their counsel develop ways in which the legitimate goals of each party can be achieved without the expense and uncertainty of further litigation. There is no limit on the number of times conciliation services may be used during any law or equity action.