Mediation

The Role of the Law in Mediation

The goal of mediation is for the parties to find a solution on their own which is “custom tailored” to their individual needs and interests. The law itself grants the parties the right to come up with such individual solutions because the rules of (German) civil law are, for the most part, concessionary (non-mandatory) law, which means that they only apply to the extent that the parties do not come up with their own individual solutions.

Knowledge of the law is still important for you in the sense of fairness control. Only someone who understands what will happen to them if an agreement is not reached can judge what the custom tailored agreement means for her or him. For that reason, you are required to agree that you will retain external legal counsel at some point during the mediation process but no later than before the final legally binding agreement has been entered into.