Is it possible for a mediator to be completely neutral?

A mediator MUST be “completely neutral.” That is part of the definition of a mediator. Part of a mediator’s training is to learn to be aware of emotional responses that one has while mediating that could interfere with one’s neutrality. While we are all human, and all have emotional responses to people we meet and know, a good mediator is aware of such emotional responses within him or her and does his or her best to control them so as to treat each party to the mediation in the same, fair, objective fashion.

Gary Borger, family lawyer and mediator, is a partner in the firm of Borger Jones Matez & Keeley-Cain, P.A. located in Cherry Hill, NJ.