In September 2023, the JurisMediation mediators’ network held a webinar on mediation from the lawyer’s point of view, with Gaëtan Di Martino, lawyer, mediator and president of JurisMediation, and Ewa Kaluzinska, lawyer and mediator. Only my contributions are featured here: each chapter starts the video at the beginning of my segment and stops it at the end. The webinar is in French.
Play with YouTube ?
This player is provided by YouTube (Google), which may set cookies and receive your IP address. Nothing loads without your consent. Privacy policy
My segments, with times
Suggesting mediation at the right time
There is no ideal stage: it all depends on the parties and their state of mind. At the first meeting, the client is often still very angry. The first step is to bring the temperature down, explain how court proceedings work and what the options are, and then suggest mediation at the second or third meeting.
Clients sometimes need reassurance that, if mediation fails, they have a lawyer who will defend them. It can help to start by filing proceedings, and then open negotiations while the case is pending. A refusal is not final: once the other side’s submissions arrive and the litigation risk becomes real, clients often become open to mediation.
The mediator’s legal background
I mostly practice international family mediation, a field where the applicable charters expect the mediator to have legal knowledge. For an agreement to be recognized in several countries, some legal issues must be anticipated. Securing them is the lawyers’ job, but the mediator must keep them in mind to ask the right questions at the right time, especially when setting the mediation agenda.
Key takeaways
- Mediation should be suggested at the client’s pace, often after the first meetings.
- Filing proceedings does not prevent negotiation: it can secure the client’s position during mediation.
- An initial refusal is not final; mediation should be offered again as the case develops.
- In international family mediation, the mediator must know the legal framework so the agreement is recognized in each country.
What has changed since
Since this webinar, two French reforms have strengthened amicable resolution before the civil courts:
- Decree No. 2023-686 of July 29, 2023 created the amicable settlement hearing (audience de règlement amiable) before the civil court, for cases filed from November 1, 2023;
- Decree No. 2025-660 of July 18, 2025, in force since September 1, 2025, recodified the amicable methods in Book V of the French Code of Civil Procedure; the amicable settlement hearing now appears in Articles 1532-1 et seq.
Learn more in the FAQ
Related services
More media
Excerpts from the video produced by the JurisMediation network. The YouTube player only loads with your consent.