The mediation may help the parties
to settle the whole case or some parts of it. The promises
that each party makes to settle the case are often called
the terms of settlement.
It is a good idea to write these
down and for each party to sign them before the end of
the mediation.
In some cases, legal documents
will have to be prepared by the lawyers and signed by
the parties.
The parties can also choose to
sign another document called a Consent Order. The Consent
Order is signed by a Judge and becomes a final order of
the Court.
The Court will then close its
file and make a note that the case has settled but only
the parties themselves know the terms of the settlement
of the case.
If the matter is not settled at
the mediation it goes back to the Judge to decide what
should happen next.
The fact that a case goes to mediation
does not mean that it will take longer for the case to
be heard by a Judge.
