Ed Ahrens, Jr., Esq. writes monthly thought provoking Editorials on mediation. These views are Ed's and do not necessarily reflect those of Florida Mediation Group.

"Hey, Ed, great mediation! You've earned a bonus. And, if you have four more settlements, you receive a plaque!"

Nice, huh?

It doesn't happen, folks, no matter what you have heard. And it should not. Win or lose, the mediator and the parties' counsel are paid for the services rendered. After all, who should receive credit for a successful mediation, or blame for an unsuccessful one? Let's use an analogy father's will relate to: You have just taken the training wheels off your child's bicycle, given the bike a gentle push, and watched with pride as he or she wobbles and pedals into a new stage in life. Whose accomplishment is it? Clearly, it is chiefly your child's, not yours. You did play a crucial part, however. You arranged the circumstances in which the youngster could achieve that dramatic moment. If the bike topples and the child falls, it simply means he or she was not ready for the venture. Just so, the mediator arranges and facilitates the conditions in which the parties and their counsel can constructively move toward resolution, the achievement of which, ultimately, is up to the parties.

If you think about it, an extra financial or tangible reward to a mediator for a successful mediation would only serve to infect the mediator's objectivity and perhaps neutrality. The function of a mediator is to orchestrate the process that leads to settlement. It is not his job to tell the participants what to do but rather to remind them of the advantages of constructive negotiation and final settlement. Remember, mediation is consensual, a fact the mediator should convey to the parties at the outset of the proceeding.

(An attorney friend once told me he only wants a mediator that "pushes the parties aggressively to settlement." Reasonably, encouragingly, even urgingly--but never aggressively or forcefully. Unreasonable pressure is dangerously close, if not tantamount to making a decision for the parties or forcing a settlement, both violations of mediators' Standards of Professional Conduct, Rules 10.020 and 10.050.)

So, how is the mediator rewarded for the task performed? Forgive the play on the cliche, but a mediated resolution is its own reward. The mediator truly enjoys the satisfaction of having helped disputants settle their differences and save the cost and avoid the stress, delay and uncertainty of a trial. By the same token, when an impasse is reached, a mediator invariably searches his or her soul, to assure everything was done in the process that could have been done--a sometimes unreachable goal--to help the parties settle.

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