In almost 30 years of practice, I have only had one case where there were two mediators. The case involved a very complicated fact pattern which included a very contentious divorce and civil litigation involving related parties and the divorcing parties. One mediator had substantial family law experience and the other mediator had substantial civil experience. The case was ultimately settled due to the two mediators’ ability to cover all of the issues in play, particularly the emotional issues involving the divorce. As an experienced Southern Indiana mediation lawyer with decades of legal experience, I have mediated several family law cases which had civil litigation components as well, since my practice involves both of these areas.
In a few family matters, I have essentially co-mediated with a financial advisor retained by the parties. In both cases, the parties had substantial assets and were trying to figure out ways to make any settlement as tax efficient as possible. The financial advisor traveled with me from room to room and tried to analyze the financial needs of the parties after the divorce (one spouse was the classic breadwinner and the other was a stay-at-home parent) and how the parties could meet those needs with particular asset allocations. There were also some business issues involved and the financial advisor provided input about certain valuation issues involving the business. Ironically, the financial advisor had been used as an opposing expert in several of my larger cases. As a mediator, that took a lot off my plate, and both parties appreciated getting immediate feedback on particular tax issues.
In another case, both parties brought their business valuation experts to mediation, and we had a separate caucus between the lawyers and business valuation experts to determine what really were the points of contention between the experts. The opposing experts knew each other and were able to come down to a reasonable basis for a compromised number on the business which greatly facilitated the resolution of the case. While having multiple mediators or experts can be beneficial in certain situations, this largely depends on the assets and complexities involved. For example, all of these cases involved substantial assets, as the cost of having these professionals appear live for several hours was substantial.