You must hire a mediator who has been qualified by the Utah State Courts to perform the mediation. A list of these mediators is available on the Utah State Court Website roster of mediators. On the website the mediators are arranged by county so you can find the mediators who offer service in your area. Information regarding the mediator's hourly fee, any travel costs, and a brief biography are also included to help you make your decision.

To be included on the court-annexed roster of mediators, individuals must first attend and complete basic mediation training. Approved trainings include Utah Dispute Resolution, and the University of Utah and BYU mediation and conflict resolution departments. Additional requirements can be found on the ADR Court-Annexed Mediation Program website.

Both parties to the dispute must agree on who will serve as a mediator. You may request a mediator from the WSEMS list or the system will assign one for you. If a mediator is chosen from this list, the mediator's services are provided without charge to the participants. If the participants choose to use a mediator who is not on the WSEMS list, the participants are responsible for the mediator's fees.

Early Settlement mediators are volunteers from communities throughout Oklahoma who serve their community and the court system. If you are interested in volunteering, locate the program serving the area where you live or work and contact the program director about what steps you will need to follow in order to become a program volunteer. No. For quality and consistency purposes, attending the Supreme Court's training is mandatory prior to placement as an Early Settlement volunteer mediator.

The parties are responsible for identifying and paying a mediator to provide this service. Mediation costs are to be divided equally between the parties unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties or ordered by the court. If you feel you cannot afford to hire a mediator financial assistance is available. To request this assistance you must fill out a Divorce Mediation Income Survey. This Income Survey is available on-line at http://www.utcourts.gov/mediation/divmed/forms.

Under the Labour Relations Code, mediators are appointed by the Director of Mediation Services. Either side can request a mediator. You can contact Mediation Services at (780) 427-8301 or visit their website at www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/mediationservices/. Occasionally, parties to a dispute will seek the services of a mediator but will not be considering a strike or a lockout. In these cases, the parties’ collective agreement may spell out the process of selecting a mediator.

When one or both parties to a disputes asks the Director of Mediation Services to appoint a mediator, the request is reviewed to ensure the criteria are met for the appointment of a mediator. A mediator is then appointed from the Designated Mediator Roster, usually within three business days.

If you don't have any prior mediation experience, then you would start out as a telephone conciliator and then as a court mediator, gaining experience as a neutral third party working over the phone and in person at small claims court. You could then apply to join the DRC mediation practicum and become certified as a DRC mediator. If you are already certified as a mediator from another DRC, then if accepted, you could move straight into doing DRC community mediations.

The mediator is an advocate for fairplay and mutual agreement. The mediator may play many roles within the process of mediation ? coaching, being a referee, finding resources, keeping attention focused on issues, calling time-outs, encouraging, clarifying, reminding, acting as a sounding board, challenging, brainstorming ? but the mediator is always neutral and never makes decisions for the couple. The mediator controls the process, the parties control the outcome.

Volunteers must be certified as mediators and endorsed in the specific area of mediation associated with the case. They must also adhere to the Standards of Practice of the Washington Mediation Association. (The Standards of Practice can be found at http://www.washingtonmediation.org/ethics.html.) Certification requirements include a minimum of 36 hours of mediation training, a written exam, observation of mediation sessions, mediation practice sessions and 24 hours of mediation experience.

The Dispute Resolution Center offers mediation training once per year in the fall. Call or e-mail the DRC to receive information about the training as it becomes available. (Training generally happens on 2 weekends during the fall.) Other DRCs in the state offer facilitative mediation training more frequently. Check with the DRC office to find out whether a training elsewhere makes you eligible for the DRC's practicum.

You can find a mediator by contracting an alternative dispute resolution organization, such as the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution, or Association for Conflict Resolution. Ask friends if they have had a good experience with a mediator, or check with your attorney. You can also search the internet or yellow pages. When choosing a mediator consider his or her level of alternative dispute resolution training, a mediator should have a minimum of 100 hours.

No, it is not the role of the mediator to come up with the solution. The mediator will help the parties explore a variety of options in order to determine what will work best for them.

A mediator is an impartial third party, who assists disputants in determining and creating options that move the parties toward resolving conflict. The goal is for parties to reach a mutually satisfying agreement.