CMDR Looks Back At 2019: Changing Trends in Mediation Clientele

Each year we look back at our client population, seeking to uncover patterns, changes, and even trends. Clearly we have noticed a striking increase in the different kinds of issues that people bring to mediation. More and more individuals are aware of mediation as a process for resolving problems confronting families and businesses. Individuals are recognizing that litigation, or even legal negotiation, is not necessarily the appropriate or the best recourse for problem resolution. The slow and costly route to judicial justice is being questioned. Simply put, mediation is not only more cost and time efficient, it also offers each participant a voice, and an opportunity to shape the outcome of the settlement—all conducted in a confidential setting.

In 2019 we have observed the following trends:

From Our Business Clients:

• An increased number of small business owners are using mediation to restructure their individual roles in the oversight and operation of the business;
• An increased number of business partnerships are using mediation to restructure their compensation packages for principals and employees;
• An increased number of family-owned businesses enter mediation to structure generational succession of ownership;
• An increased number of family-owned businesses enter mediation to confront the termination of their business due to aging owners and/or changes in the industry and/or financial difficulties; and
• An increased number of small business owners enter mediation to deal with differences in philosophy and/or goals and/or commitment to the business entity.

From Our Separating, Divorcing, and Divorced Clients:

• An increased number of couples struggling to balance incomes in the wake of the change in the tax law affecting divorced couples;
• An increased number of couples with prenuptial agreements with terms and provisions that they no longer wish to abide by;
• An increased number of couples divorcing after over thirty years of marriage;
• An increased number of couples seeking to structure post-nuptial agreements in the event that they divorce;
• An increased number of couples that wish to remain business partners after divorce;
• An increased number of couples that seek to divorce after one or both parties have retired;
• An increased number of couples that wish to retain joint ownership of marital property for a prolonged period of time; and
• An increased number of couples with one or more children with special needs, requiring a “forever” collaborative parenting arrangement.

From Our Family Mediation Clients:

• An increased number of siblings entering mediation to reach agreement on how to share vacation homes after the death of their parents;
• An increased number of families struggling to separate financial entanglements when one sibling requires more assistance than the others;
• An increased number of families where negative sibling interaction impacts on the children’s intent to care for an aging parent;
• An increased number of clients who enter mediation to structure terms for the division of inherited property; and
• An increased number of families who wish to work together to determine the division of the family estate, before rather than after death.

Mediation offers all participants the opportunity to express their needs, concerns, and priorities in a process based on creative problem solving. Thinking “out-of-the box” encourages each participant to voice his/her feelings and ideas and to take an active role in the final decision- making. Each one’s voice needs to be heard; each one’s thoughts need to be given credence. With the facilitation of a skilled, experienced and knowledgeable mediator, the end result should be fair and workable for all involved parties.