Role of Attorney
For most people, a separation or divorce is a one-time event in their life. Rarely do people come to mediation with the knowledge of the law, the experience of what happens in Courts, or the realistic insight as to what you will experience going through a separation or divorce. A well-trained attorney is a must to help guide you through the legal aspects of how separation or divorce is going to affect your life and your rights. In mediation, the only person looking out for your interests will be you and your attorney.
The mediator creates a neutral, balanced, and structured forum to work on creating solutions, but your attorney will provide you with the advice that helps you bring realistic and practical ideas to the problem-solving process.
The mediator can not give legal advise. Most mediators are not attorneys, but even when they are, they must not give legal advice in the mediation. A mediator must remain neutral and not align with either party. If the mediator begins providing legal advice, then they are shaping the outcome of the mediation to the benefit of one party over the other.
A mediated agreement is the basic foundation of what a final legal agreement is derived from. A mediated agreement has all of the specifics for what is agreed upon in your situation, but an attorney is needed to convert the agreement into an enforceable document. You should never sign any document between yourself and the other party in mediation without an attorney reviewing and advising you on how it affects your legal rights.
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Though mediation is not a legal process per se' but rather a process of cooperatively resolving issues in the divorce with the assistance of neutral experts in the field, attorneys play a vital role in the decision making process and final product of mediation.