Attorneys & Mediators

Though complementary, the roles of mediator and attorney are quite distinct. Depending on your circumstances, you might want to engage a mediator, an attorney, or both for their very specific areas of expertise.

Mediators

Mediators are experts in conflict resolution. Their job is to help parties resolve the problem that they face in a way that addresses everyone’s interests. Mediators give the parties every opportunity to reach a settlement, but the parties themselves decide what kind of settlement, if any, they want to reach.

Our skilled mediators succeed by creating an environment that encourages an open and constructive exchange. We guide the exchange towards a settlement by asking questions, identifying issues, exploring underlying interests, balancing power, and helping you break through impasse. You can further explore how we work with conflict by visiting causes of conflict

CID Resolution is an exclusive provider of mediation services. We don’t double as attorneys or therapists. We’re specialists, professionally trained in mediation so that you can settle your dispute without the time and expense of filing a lawsuit.

Attorneys

Attorneys are experts in law and litigation. Traditionally, their job has been to provide legal advice and representation to help their clients contest a dispute through litigation. An attorney would be retained by one client to bring a lawsuit against the other party. The other party, meanwhile, also retains an attorney to defend against the suit and possibly file a cross-complaint. The two attorneys, acting for their respective clients, each then try to prevail in court — or they might, if they thought it expedient, recommend a settlement just before the trial date.

Consultant attorneys act as legal advisors but not as legal representatives. They are complementary to the mediation process and can add great value to parties involved in a dispute. For example, your attorney can discuss your legal rights, develop proposals and counters to offers by the other party, and suggest best-case and worst-case outcomes if the dispute were contested in court. Consultant attorneys can also review a mediated settlement before the parties make it legally binding, and they can accompany the parties to mediation sessions.