Gathering Leads

Now that you know what types of mediators and mediation services might be available to you, it’s time to start your search. The first step in finding a good mediator is to gather the names of some mediators or mediation services in your area.

1. Your Own Private Information Network

No matter where you are or what kind of dispute you face, you should be able to get some useful leads by simply picking up the phone or logging on to the Internet. For example, depending on the specifics of your dispute, a local woman’s organization, gay-lesbian organization, or business trade group (or their key members) may be able to make a knowledgeable referral. Lawyers are often another excellent source of referrals. Even if you have few professional contacts, you probably know someone who knows a decent lawyer, and that lawyer, in turn, may know just the independent mediator or mediation center to help you.

Try making a short list of the people you know who are in the best position to advise you about a mediator or refer you to someone who can. You may end up calling your son’s financial advisor or your mother’s minister. But so what? If you get results, that’s all that matters.

2. State and National Organizations and Directories

There are lots of state and national groups you can contact for help in locating mediators and mediation services. The Association for Conflict Resolution, for example, will provide lists of divorce and family media­tors in your area. (For contact information on this and other national groups, see Appendix C.) Also, many states now have government- sponsored offices that keep track of mediation programs within their states. For contact information, see the list of “Statewide Mediation Offices” in Appendix D. You can also check out the “ADR Locator” on the website of Martindale Hubbell (a legal publishing company), at www.martindale.com (click “Dispute Resolution” to get to a nationwide list of ADR practitioners, searchable by state, specialty area, and lan­guages spoken, among other things).

3. Bar Association Listings

Your local bar association—the professional organization of lawyers in your area—may keep a list of lawyers who mediate cases. Proceed with caution, however. Most bar associations don’t screen the lawyers on their rosters—they just give you the name of the next person on the list, without evaluating or commenting on the person’s skill level. Also, lots of busy, in-demand mediators won’t bother to list with the bar, because they don’t need any extra work.

4. Yellow Pages

Check under “mediation” or “dispute resolution.” Most mediation services, as well as some independent mediators in private practice, will have some kind of brochure to send you with descriptive information about their services.

C.