Clients and court ordered parties of mediation often wonder about the cost of mediation.  If the court sent me here, why do I have to pay for it?  If my spouse and I are the ones agreeing to settle, why do I have to pay for it? This post will focus on the cost of mediation.

The hourly fee for mediation includes the value of the skills and expertise of the mediator, the training of the professional that allows that person to be qualified to handle mediation cases, and the benefits of not being subject to a long court battle, etc.  It takes years of experience to be a mediator that can settle a case in a few hours.  Those years of experience have value.

I vaguely remember a story, forgive me as I can't remember the details right now, but it goes something like this:  a person approached a painter on the street and asked him to paint their portrait.  The painter finished the portrait  in 5 minutes and asked for payment that far exceeded the expectation of the subject of the painting.  The subject objected and asked why the painting was so expensive when it only took 5 minutes to complete, and the painter responded, “ah, to you it took 5 minutes to paint, but in reality it took a lifetime to paint that portrait .”  The point is there is value in an expert's training, ability, and experience.

The Court, lawyers, other mediators, and parties have contributed to the  devalue of  mediation services. “Giving Back or Just Giving It Away: Can Mediators Empower Others If We  De-Value Our Own Expertise? By Sid Cohen is a great article that examines the problems with perceived value on mediation.

Our mediation services include the best value for the Cost of Mediation as we include agenda planning, unique meeting availability, and communication between sessions.  Contact us today to start mediation.

Book a Joint Orientation Call