Choose a mediator who fits the dispute
For people selecting a mediator for a civil dispute and counsel helping them compare candidates.
What questions distinguish a mediator’s relevant fit from an impressive biography?
Ask each candidate how they would run this particular session. Use the same short scenario, verify the applicable selection process and compare concrete answers about experience, neutrality, participation, timing and cost.
Find out what choice the parties actually have
Start with the governing program, order or agreement. Check whether the parties can choose a neutral together, whether a panel is available and who helps if the parties cannot agree. Confirm appointment steps and due dates in the instructions for the actual matter. Published program procedures are local examples.
Describe the needs of the dispute in neutral terms. A disagreement about repairs may call for someone comfortable asking technical questions. A dispute between long-term business partners may call for experience helping people make practical commitments. Give candidates enough detail to discuss fit and run a conflicts check through the proper channel.
Run the same short interview
Ask for experience with comparable issues, how the mediator handles a technical disagreement and how they distinguish facilitating a decision from offering an assessment. Ask when they use joint meetings or separate conversations, how they handle information shared privately, and how they would accommodate a remote participant or interpreter.
Request disclosure of relevant relationships with parties, counsel or other participants and ask how new concerns are addressed. Get the fee arrangement in writing, including preparation, scheduling, cancellation, travel and follow-up. Ask who receives submissions and which terms govern confidentiality. Use the answer and the governing materials together.
Choose using evidence you can explain
For each candidate, record one relevant example, a practical benefit, a remaining concern and a question that would resolve it. Decide which factors are essential before comparing names. A settlement percentage without its underlying case mix tells little about how a candidate might handle this dispute.
Worked example
Illustrative comparison. Two suppliers disagree over a technical specification. Candidate A can meet next week and would start with a joint engineer-to-engineer explanation. Candidate B can meet later and would first ask for separate technical briefs. Both could be sensible. The parties compare the cost of delay, whether both engineers can attend, conflicts disclosures and the written fee terms before selecting a process.
Primary sources
Related work at Agentic Attorney
This mediator-selection guide is part of the shared Agentic Attorney resource collection. Agentic Attorney describes its AI consulting and implementation work for legal teams. Explore Agentic Attorney’s approach to AI implementation.