01Introductions h264YouTube

0:00 [Music] well thank you for coming to the mediation today um before we we proceed any further can i just establish um the appropriate forms of address you'd like to use bill um would you yeah i'm happy to call it to use first name okay we work with each other that's you josephine um joe's fine i think joe's phone with you okay well um just to reiterate where we've been so far as you know i've talked to both of you about the mediation process i've sent you some material to consider

0:48 uh you've kindly given me some information including the partnership agreement and you've told me what's happening [Music] i've also sent you a copy of the mediation agreement thank you for signing that that contains the terms of the agreement some confidentiality provisions etc and what i want to do in this first part of the process is talk about some of the things that were in that agreement you signed to make sure you're both clear on that in terms of the process today i put up on the board an outline of the process uh as you can see we're in the introduction phase now and during the process today

1:34 we'll move uh we'll after the introductions where we'll lay down the how the mediation will work and some of the ground rules will go into statements and in the statements i'd like you just to tell me uh what's been happening in the dispute that has arisen between you and i'll make a summary of that and the statements are really about making sure that i and the other party both of you understand each other's point of view from the beginning after that i'll construct a list of issues the agenda phase which is phase four of the process

2:20 and in the agenda i'll put up on the board a list of issues that that uh seem to be of concern to you and we'll use that as the basis of our discussion uh this afternoon after the uh agenda uh we go into the next phase which is phase five of the the process which i call exploratory negotiation and really that's really the first time i'd like both of you to talk to each other and i'd like you to have a conversation about the issues i've put on an agenda not to settle the matter at that stage but just so that you both understand each other a little bit more about what's been

3:05 happening after that i'll go into private sessions which is phase six of the process and i'll just have a talk to each of you alone just to see how you're both traveling in the process and finally after after private sessions we go into phase seven where we begin to look at some options to perhaps settle the matter and i'm confident if we can go through this process we'll get to a stage where we can consider some options to perhaps reach some outcomes that you can both live with and take away then finally we go into phase eight of the process which is the agreement phase where we write down

3:52 uh the terms of the agreement and that that written agreement may be in broader general terms or we can make it as specific as you like and uh but i'd like if we can to reach a written agreement and then finally after that it's up to you to implement the agreement and the terms that that we've come to agreement about how long is this all going to take because i know what i want now i'm happy to tell bill well it was one of the things i was going to check with you joe and just to check that you have three hours this afternoon to devote to it that was the initial arrangement we we came to is that still okay with you i've got three hours but seriously do we need that well it may

4:38 not take that long but it could take up to that long are you okay with that oh yes i'm like okay but i i don't want to waste time because you know i could tell bill now but i want yes you could do that and eventually you will be able to do that but first i'd like to you to explain some of your underlying concerns and issues as well believe me i've heard it often enough already you've heard it often i'm sure you have so you'll both have plenty of time to put those concerns out there and discuss with each other in the course of the mediation any other questions about the process before let me just explain my role my role is to be

5:24 an impartial mediator between you i don't have any interest in the partnership obviously i've never met you either of you before so in terms of any conflict i may have i think we can both all be rest assured that there's no conflict of interest um here so as far as uh can be an impartial third party here the agreement to mediate which i previously mentioned contained some clauses in relation to confidentiality and privilege you would have might have noticed those what that means is that

6:11 any conversation or other things mentioned in the mediation are privileged in terms of their production in a court tribunal as far as the law allows there's no absolute guarantee and certainly in the agreement that we will make at the end of the mediation you might want to consider the confidentiality of the terms and how that will be implemented who you would need to tell etc but certainly the confidentiality and privilege provisions of that of that agreement are very pertinent and the other thing i would reassure you is

6:58 that any anything you say to me i won't be repeating them i will be taking some notes i'll treat those in confidence the notes i do take i will destroy after the mediation i won't keep any contemporaneous notes of what's happened in the conversation today so i guess the good thing about that is if any court attempts to subpoena me to give evidence i don't have any contemporaneous notes and essentially i usually can't remember what parties tell me fairly quickly after the mediation there will be a mediation agreement you can use for enforcement purposes at law but apart

7:43 from that uh you could be you can be reasonably confident that the matter is confidential and privileged um is that understandable to both of you sure can i just that's one thing um you know jan my wife works with me in the business so if we're talking about things today and i want to talk to her on the phone or something is that a problem or uh it may be it's i'm glad you raised that is that something you'd like to do today i think so i mean um and just to check the terms of any agreement you may reach yeah i think so is that that's the same with me with my husband and i also might want to check with my lawyer as well yes she's not here today so well that can be helpful sometimes but as long as both of you understand what the other is doing

8:30 and i'll note that that may occur during the course of the mediation so you may need to adjourn the mediation to consult with your lawyer or your partner is that right yeah okay that's fine and the other thing i need to know it's just in terms of your ability to make final decisions today your um what we call your authority to settle um both of you are indicating you'd like to check with your respective partners and lawyers before reaching a final program and jan knows that we're talking but i think i really need to run it past it yes i think you'll notice in the in the process in the private sessions that i'll meet with each of you separately that might be a

9:16 time where you can talk to your lawyer or your partners and just let them know how it's progressing okay okay and we can make provision for you to do that before we sign off in any final agreement well i want my what my lawyer to look at the agreement too before i sign off so that's possible too if and we could adjourn the mediation to allow that to happen and then come back and continue it later if you need to do that but again it's a matter which would need to be negotiated between you but i'll note that it's perhaps the matter you need to do okay um the so the a couple of ground rules one is this is a turn-taking exercise so we take turns in talking i'd like you not

10:02 to interrupt with each other and um so when one of us is talking others are listening and i think always that's a good rule if there's something that really is annoying you and you don't feel you can bring it out in the joint session you can wait to the private session to talk to me hello and you've also got notes a notepad in front of you you can jot it down and you can bring it back in the conversation okay so my job is to help you to bring those things out in the most appropriate ways that you can the i mentioned the agreement if if we do reach an agreement you can you can form that in the way you think

10:47 suits your interest you can make it a formal written agreement you can even have a verbal agreement i actually prefer a written agreement and take away with you you can have it um formed into a proper contract or deed if you need depending on what what is agreed by your lawyers that's that's all possible um just finally are you are you both uh um comfortable that you understand the process and what we are attempting to do today yeah got a rough idea yeah and i want uh just again thank you for sending in the copy of the partnership agreement and some of the correspondence that

11:32 [Music] both of you have there are no private correspondence shared correspondent thank you for that help me now the other the only other ground rule is that um i'm in charge of the process so i'd expect that you follow my directions you're in charge of the content the substance of what's going on today so i do have your agreement to follow my directions um through the process that means i just when it's time for a break when it's time to listen to the other person you'll follow those directions

12:18 any questions before we start i think that's pretty clear okay well let me move on to the next phase which is the statements phase [Music] you