Mediation Preparation Consultation and Coaching
The mediation is decided in the fortnight before it, not the day of it.
Most mediations fail before they begin — a party arrives with a grievance instead of a position, or a legal representative arrives to argue rather than to settle. The MV Inc Preparation Protocol is a private consulting engagement that readies a party, and their representatives, for the room. For any mediation, convened by anyone.
The MV Inc Preparation Protocol For parties and legal teams Any mediation, any mediator
Last reviewed
Anyone about to walk into a mediation who wants to walk out with a settlement.
We do not need to be the mediator. Preparation is a separate, confidential engagement with one side only.
Parties to a family, commercial or workplace mediation who have never been in one
Business owners and executives preparing for a shareholder, succession or contractual mediation
Attorneys and advocates preparing a client — and themselves — for a Rule 41A mediation
Parents preparing for a parenting-plan mediation or a Parenting Coordination process
Advisors — wealth managers, family office principals, accountants — supporting a client through a dispute
The mediation is decided in the fortnight before it, not the day of it.
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01
Interests and positions
A party who knows what actually matters to them — and what the other side needs — negotiates. One who only knows what they are owed argues.
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02
Alternatives assessed honestly
The realistic cost, time and risk of litigating are worked through on the numbers, so settlement authority is real and offers are credible.
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03
Emotional and behavioural readiness
Preparation for the room itself: what will be said, how it will feel, and how to stay constructive when it is difficult.
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04
The legal representative as strategist
For attorneys and advocates: how to assist a client strategically in mediation rather than reproducing trial advocacy at a settlement table.
A structured programme, delivered privately.
Typically two to four sessions in the weeks before the mediation, in person or virtually, with negotiation consultation available between sessions.
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Interests, not positions
Establishing what actually matters — to you, and to the other side — beneath the claims on the pleadings.
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Alternatives, on the numbers
A frank assessment of the best and worst alternatives to a negotiated agreement, and what each would cost.
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Documents and the room
Ordering the evidence for a settlement conversation, and preparing the opening statement, the private sessions and the difficult moments.
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Authority and strategy
Settlement authority confirmed before day one; the role of the legal team agreed; a negotiation strategy the whole side shares.
A separate engagement. Privileged, and yours alone.
Preparation consulting is a confidential engagement with one party and their representatives. It is entirely separate from any mediation MV Inc. may conduct: where we are appointed as mediator in a matter, we do not prepare either party for it, and where we prepare a party, we will not act as mediator.
The Protocol is the same one we teach attorneys and advocates in the Mediation for the Modern Attorney series and in our in-house training, so that both sides of the table can do the work.
Questions about preparation consulting.
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Do you need to be the mediator for me to use this?
No. Preparation is for any mediation, convened by any mediator or institution, in any forum. Most of our preparation clients are mediating elsewhere.
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Is it confidential?
Entirely. The engagement is with you alone; nothing is shared with the other party, the mediator or the court. Where we prepare a party, we will not also mediate the matter.
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I have an attorney. Is this instead of legal advice?
No — it complements it. Your attorney advises on the law and the merits; we prepare you for the negotiation and the room. Attorneys frequently attend the sessions.
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How long does preparation take?
Usually two to four sessions over the two to three weeks before the mediation, with a short check-in the day before. Complex commercial matters may warrant more.
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Do you train attorneys in this?
Yes. The Protocol is taught in our Mediation for the Modern Attorney webinar series and in in-house training for firms and chambers.
Related reading
All insights →A private conversation before anything else.
Tell us, in confidence, what you are preparing for. We will tell you plainly whether preparation consulting will make a difference to your matter — and if it will not, we will say so.
Malan Vermeulen Incorporated (MV Inc.)Ground Floor, Quadrum 3, 50 Constantia Boulevard,
Floracliffe, Johannesburg, 1709, South Africa
010 980 5160 · [email protected]