Mediator's Opening Statement Narrative
Good morning. My name is ________________________. I’ll be your mediator today and if you would why don’t each of you identify yourselves and tell me whom you represent, whether the claimant or the respondent.
I am the mediator that has been appointed to your case by the ___________________________ and let me tell you briefly what my qualifications are. I am a lawyer. I have been practicing law for ___ years and I am also a trained mediator and have participated in mediation and arbitrations and other forms of what we call alternative dispute resolution. [ALTERNATIVE 1: Let me commend you both for agreeing to participate in the mediation process, which is a proven, successful process and I assume by virtue of your being here you are committed to attempting to make this system work and attempting to reach a resolution of your dispute.] [ALTERNATE 2: Although I understand that this is court-ordered mediation, I hope and trust that you are participating in the mediation process with an open mind and in good faith to explore the possibilities of a resolution of your dispute. The mediation process is a proven, successful process and I would hope that you would participate in this frame of mind.]
Let me say, also, at the outset, that I have no connection with this case. I know nothing about it other than the materials submitted by the parties. I have not met either one of you before and I do not have any connection with nor know any of the parties involved in this case and thus I have no opinion or preconceived ideas about the nature of your dispute or how it ought to be resolved.
Also, let me explain to you the mediation process, in case there is any question. I am not a judge or a decision-maker; rather my job is to facilitate communication between the two parties with the hopes that will enable the parties to reach a settlement. My job will be to probe and ask questions and attempt to get each of the parties to reevaluate their positions and reevaluate their opponent’s positions with the view toward possibly reaching a resolution of this dispute.
I should explain to you that the mediation process is confidential and I will do everything in my power to assure that it remains confidential.
Now let me describe to you briefly the procedure we are going to be following. When I get through making my remarks, I will be calling on each of you, the claimant and the respondent, to make an opening statement. I will call on the claimant first, because the claimant is the one that initiated the [litigation][claim] and it is customary for the claimant to go first. Do you, Mr. Jones, have any objection to that? Okay, fine, thank you. An opening statement, I should tell you, is simply to state what your client’s thoughts are, what the history of this dispute is, what relief or resolution you think is appropriate and anything you wish to add to shed light on the situation of your client that may be relevant. After each of you makes an opening statement, we will then remain together in what I call a joint session, and I will attempt to ask some questions to be sure I have all the information I need. At some point in our discussion, we will probably break into what is called a “caucus,” where I will ask one of you to leave. After caucusing with one of the parties, I will send that party out and ask to caucus with the other party. I think it is very important that you understand during those caucuses, while we are meeting privately, I may meet longer with one party than another. It simply has nothing to do with anything other than I may have more questions to ask one side. It has nothing to do with favoring one side or the other. During the caucus, you will have an opportunity, if you wish, to disclose to me things that you want me to know but don’t necessarily wish for me to disclose to the other side, and I want to assure you that it will remain confidential. If later it should be helpful to disclose it, I would do so only with your express permission.
Next, I want to mention that we may have several caucuses and we may have several general sessions. As you know, we have set aside a period of one day to complete this mediation. During this day, we will have a break about every hour and a half. Then we will break thirty (30) minutes for lunch. If at any time anybody feels a break is needed, we will do so.
Our goal today is to seek to get a complete resolution of this dispute. I again commend you for your commitment to this process and agreement to participate. Does anybody have any questions at this time?
Alright, then, before we begin the opening statements, let me just clarify that each of you does have authority from your respective clients to settle this case. You have come to the mediating process with authority to settle. Is that correct? Okay, thank you. ___________, would you like to proceed then with your opening statement on behalf of the claimant.
