General Mediation Practices

Mediation can take a couple of hours, often a full day, and in very contentious or complex matters many days.

I ask that each party make a deposit for one hour of time when scheduling mediation.

Mediation can be scheduled on this page via Acuity scheduling, or by emailing me at doug at dougsimpsonmediation.com, or by phoning me at 253-200-5206 or 619-807-0196.

Typically parties divide the costs of mediation 50-50.

But sometimes mediation consists of both in-person sessions, and separate sessions that sometimes occur over a number of days or in follow-up discussions. I keep track of my time, and where it ends up being substantially devoted to one side versus the other, I will typically bill that larger share to the side that takes the larger portion of the time—it’s only fair. I also ask that parties be jointly and severally responsible for the bill, to assist in being sure that payment is made. These and other terms are set forth in my standard mediation agreement, which I will share with parties as we move toward scheduling mediation.

In the event a party needs to reschedule, generally that is not a problem. But if we get last-minute notice of a cancellation and cannot fill the time slot, we reserve the right to keep all or a portion of the deposit. The policy is spelled out in the mediation agreement that we’ll send you.

I generally speak with both sides in advance of mediation to learn a little bit about their view of the matter, and their objectives.

I am happy to receive and review anything you believe helpful to the mediation process. But you are not required to submit anything, if you’d rather not.

Lawyers typically will submit a short brief discussing facts and law, and perhaps one or more exhibits that they believe are the pieces of evidence on which the case turns.

I generally have all parties prepare a list of their issues of consequence—things that they would like to discuss—and have the parties rank the issues in terms of importance. Part of the mediation process will be to develop an agenda of items to be discussed based on the list of issues from all sides.

If there are special circumstances such as stay-away orders, concerns about violence, or other kinds of things that might be settlement impediments, I would appreciate the lawyers for either side contacting me, or if there are no lawyers, then I’d appreciate the parties contacting me about such issues in advance of the mediation session.

You need not have an attorney present to mediate a matter. One of the beauties of mediation is that you get to decide, along with the other mediating parties, who attends the mediation.

Attorneys are, of course, welcome at mediation proceedings

Locations Served

Doug Simpson is located in Puyallup, Washington, one of few a divorce mediators in Tacoma, Seattle and Olympi, and online via Zoom.

He also is a mediator of business disputes, insurance, and other matters. And Doug is one of few environmental mediators in Tacoma—and one of few environmental mediators in Seattle and Olympia too. With special arrangements, he is available as an environmental mediator in San Diego and Los Angeles also.

Mediations can take place online, at a side’s attorney’s office, at local Regus or other spaces with appropriate conference rooms for the expected size of the mediation. Doug has been handling environmental property cases for more than 30 years. See mediation practice areas.