Successful mediators are tenacious. They have the skills to break impasse and keep negotiations going notwithstanding obstacles to settlement. The marketplace demands mediators who will not give up and adjourn the mediation merely because the parties are too far apart. A brief discussion of mediation styles is helpful at this point. Not all mediators employ the same style.
Some mediators use an evaluative approach and some use a facilitative approach.
The best mediators use both. The evaluative mediator tends to evaluate the issues presented and offer his opinion of what the parties should do to settle the case. The facilitative mediator is less inclined to offer his opinion, but rather, wants the parties to come to their own conclusion as to how the case should be settled. In my view, the question is not which approach is best but when should each be used. An opinion offered too early in the mediation is less likely to be accepted and may result in the early termination of negotiations.