Our compassionate mediator will guide you through disputes relating to separation, child arrangement, financial and child access disputes
Workplace disputes relating to conflict management, grievances, restructures and acquisitions
Disputes between privately owned or let properties including access issues, noise complaints, concerning or antisocial behaviour
Anything relating to local authority housing including disputes with neighbours, with housing provider or access to services
When complaints have not been managed or rectified and further resolution is to be sought. Assistance with customer relations and building partnerships
Medical complaints including mismanagement of complaints, access issues, advocacy or reasonable adjustment concerns and escalations of issues
Please reach us at rebecca@rjfwells.co.uk if you cannot find an answer to your question.
Depending on your circumstances and the dispute itself, the route of referral may vary. Self-referral is always available and done by making contact for an initial consultation with an independent mediator. Some referrals may be submitted directly from HR departments, management, complaints handlers, neighbourhood or housing officers, social workers, legal firms or local authorities.
Due to a mediator remaining impartial, only basic information including the parties and their contact details, the dispute and possibly any required adaptations for initial meetings.
After a referral is submitted, contact will be made with all parties for initial discussions, this is to ensure that the contact details are correct, explain the process in more detail and arrange first meetings. For all meetings, environment, comfortability and suitability are assessed and all efforts made to ensure the individual meetings make each party feel as comfortable as possible.
You will be asked for information such as: your current location, preference for face to face or virtual meetings, any reasonable adjustments required and any preferences for the initial meeting to take place.
The mediator is also assessing suitability of mediation throughout, any concerns regarding abusive or risky behaviour may result in mediation not being able to progress, however all efforts are made to ensure safety and wellbeing of participants throughout.
The mediator will welcome you and invite you to share your experiences that have led to and impact the dispute, what outcome you are seeking and signpost you to professional services where required.
The mediator then reflects the information back to you ensuring that your thoughts and feelings have been heard and summarised whilst also providing positive and solution focused support throughout.
Information from individual meetings is not shared, the mediator reviews after all have been completed to ensure that it is safe and within all parties' interests to continue seeking resolution.
The mediator also considers the best environment and method in which to progress, this may mean using virtual meetings in place of face to face, meeting in a neutral location, adjusting the time of the further meetings to accommodate as needed or if mediation is not appropriate. The mediator then makes contact with all parties to arrange the next step.
Given consideration to the best location, type and time of meeting, the mediator then brings all parties together in which to seek resolution.
The mediator remains impartial and does not disclose any information from the previous stages.
The mediator will set some ground rules to ensure that dignity, respect and accommodation is given throughout and then offer for each party to share their position and thoughts directly to them. This allows the other party to hear the others perspective but without being directly addressed. The mediator will then summarise the first parties comments with a focus on forward thinking. This is repeated with the other party(ies).
The mediator then asks the parties to open dialogue with one another and will assist with guidance of the communication to steer towards solutions.
The time this takes varies from individual cases and scenarios.
During this discussion, resolutions are moved towards and an agenda is formulated to ensure all have every aspect of the dispute addressed that they wish to.
Using the agenda, tangible resolutions are discussed, these are led by the participants with guidance from the mediator. These are then continuity tested to ensure that in the event that the resolution cannot be sought in the timescale or in the manner decided, that there is an alternate and failsafe in place.
If solutions have been discussed and tested, the final resolutions are agreed upon by all. The mediator will then draw this into an agreement during the meeting, using the words of the participants.
This is then reviewed by all and if agreed, this will be signed.
Discussion of any sharing of this information will also take place in case it has a benefit to be shared with others, usually including the initial referral source. A copy of the signed agreement is given to all and the mediation process has finished.
Throughout the process, the mediator will ensure that is always safe and suitable to progress. This does not mean that resolution is guaranteed as this depends on the engagement and participation of the people involved.
If an agreement cannot be made then this may be communicated back to the referrer but without details or sharing of personal information.
In the process of the joint meeting, there is an option to attend this but with parallel or shuttle mediation. This would mean each party would be on their own with the mediator moving from one party to the other and communicating on behalf of each.
Submit an initial referral via our website, email or by phone