2006 MEDIATOR ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE OPINIONS
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MEAC 2006-001
| If the quotation provided is the complete advertisement and the telephone number relates to a person [or company] that does provide mediation services ["Got Conflict. . .Mediate, Divorce through mediation contested or uncontested. Call 555-5555"], it does not violate the mediator's ethical standard for advertising. However, if the advertising mediator is not competent to mediate the cases advertised, or if there were additional text which was false or misleading, the advertisement would violate Rule 10.610.
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MEAC 2006-002
| Given the judge's intervention, the mediator must carefully monitor the parties' participation in the mediation to ascertain the parties' ability to exercise self-determination and must be prepared to terminate the mediation if any party is unable or unwilling to participate meaningfully in the process. A mediator is not relieved to ethical responsibilities by writing the "agreement" up as a "scrivener."
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| A. It would be an ethical violation to report to the court that a party did not have full settlement authority. Under the circumstances presented, the mediator is limited to reporting that no agreement was reached.
B. The parties' signatures on the stipulation form are insufficient to authorize a mediator to disclose otherwise confidential information.
NB: Read MEAC Opinion 2006-003 since it has rescinded portions of 95-009, 99-002 and 2001-010.
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MEAC 2006-004
| A certified mediator is subject to a good moral character requirement and is prohibited from performing any act which would compromise the mediator's integrity; however, there is no general prohibition regarding a mediator exhibiting behavior "unbecoming" a mediator. In addition, the actions of an attorney or a party in a mediation, cannot be judged as if they were those of a mediator.
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MEAC 2006-005
| The filing of a grievance with The Florida Bar is not necessarily precluded by statutory and rule confidentiality requirements. However, based on the facts of this question [an expenditure of escrow funds outside of the mediation which was not professional misconduct occurring during the mediation by an attorney representing a party to the litigation], the filing of a grievance with The Florida Bar is prohibited. Whether any other persons may report the attorney litigant's action to The Florida Bar is beyond the scope of the Committee's function since it would involve an interpretation of the attorney ethics code.
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MEAC 2006-006
| A mediator is obligated to advise a party of the right to seek counsel, if the mediator believes that the party does not understand or appreciate how an agreement may adversely affect the party's legal rights or obligations, but is prohibited from giving "a personal or professional opinion intended to coerce the parties, unduly influence the parties, decide the dispute, or direct a resolution of any issues."
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| A. While a mediator may facilitate discussion on the subject between the parties, the mediator may not "dictate" to the parties who attends their mediation.
B. The appropriate procedure would be for the nonparty participants to be told that they are also bound by the confidentiality requirements in statute and rule.
C. Although a mediator would not commit a direct violation of confidentiality by suggesting that a party, without the consent of all parties, discuss mediation communications with someone who does not attend the mediation, it is nonetheless unethical to do so because it could lead to a breach of confidentiality by another.
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MEAC 2006-008
| A. A mediator may report to the court that a party or counsel has failed to attend a mediation if this conclusion is based on observation by the mediator and is not dependent on a "mediation communication" as defined in Section 44.403, Florida Statutes.
B. The mediator may report the fact of nonpayment of mediation fees to the court.
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