Seminar on Mediation: Bad Marriage, Better Divorce
| Family law practitioners, take note: mediation will soon become mandatory in all family disputes |
Why mediate?First things first, you don’t need any additional accreditation to practice as mediator. If you are a practicing legal practitioner (attorney or advocate), you’re qualified to litigate or to mediate, as an alternative. It is increasingly accepted that the traditional adversarial system of litigation, which works well in most other fields of our law, is not well suited to resolving divorce cases and other family disputes. More specifically, the adversarial system aggravates the risk factors of divorce for children. In fact, the advantages of mediation in family matters are highly praised worldwide. Therefore, as a family law practitioner, you will have to make the paradigm shift to broaden and restructure your family law practice to include rendering divorce and family mediation services to your clients. Mediation is already mandatory in parenting issues in terms of the Children’s Act and encouraged in all civil matters in terms of the court-annexed mediation rules of the Magistrates’ Courts and the High Courts, and will soon become mandatory in all family matters in terms of the SA Law Reform Commission’s Family Dispute Resolution Bill. |
Course Content
This seminar will provide you with
- The essential features and the process of family mediation
- The skills and techniques family mediators utilise to solve divorce-related issues and other family disputes
- The advantages of mediation for both your clients and your legal practice
Course Content
Seminar content
1. The pitfalls of the adversarial system of litigation and how they contribute to making the worst of a delicate situation
- Confrontational and competitive approach
- Formal and technical process
- Lengthy delays at the order of the day
- Underlying issues and relevant matters often get lost in the system
2. The definition and features of mediation and how the process contributes to making the best of a delicate situation
- Neutrality or impartiality of mediator
- Party-participation and self-determination
- Private, informal and creative process
- Interest-based problem solving
3. The legal provision for family mediation in South Africa
- Mediation in Certain Divorce Matters Act 24 of 1987
- Children’s Act 38 of 2005
- Court-annexed mediation rules
- Case law
- SALRC’s Family Dispute Resolution Bill
4. The different forms of mediation and how mediation as an interest-based problem-solving approach differs from lawyer negotiation as a positional-based approach
- Facilitative or non-directive mediation
- Evaluative or directive mediation
- Advocacy or activist mediation
- Other forms
5. The various stages of the mediation process to provide you with the basic tools to navigate this alternative dispute resolution process
- Orientation and introductory stage
- Information analysis or definition stage
- Negotiation stage
- Settlement or agreement stage
- Contracting stage
6. A brief introduction to other appropriate alternative dispute resolution processes in which you can engage upon or after divorce or family breakdown
- Collaborative divorce
- Parenting coordination
- Family law arbitration
Course Content
Our promise
- Be equipped with the most recent and relevant developments in mediation, compiled and presented by a highly experienced practitioner in the field.
- Take home a comprehensive set of seminar notes, all yours for future reference on the pitfalls of litigation, the features of mediation as a problem-solving approach, the tools to navigate the alternative dispute resolution process, and more.
- Empowering you to excel in knowledge and practice is what moves us forward. How about you?
Course Content
Make family disputes better for all who are involved by including family mediation in the professional services you offer.
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