The USAID Rule of Law Program continues to conduct Mediation Talks to expand the usage of court-annexed mediation and raise awareness of mediation among lawyers. The Program and its partners, the Mediators Association of Georgia (MAG) and the Georgian Bar Association (GBA), invited twenty Kutaisi-based GBA member lawyers to the second “Mediation Talk” meeting [the first was held in Tbilisi on February 16].

The Mediation Talks are peer-to-peer meetings between lawyers who have had experience representing clients in mediation and lawyers who have not yet had that experience. At the meeting, the local lawyers met with seven other Kutaisi-based lawyers who are also accredited as local mediators.

Through the Mediation Talk, the participant lawyers had an opportunity to get to know the local mediators and ask questions they had about mediation. These questions included: How does mediation work in Georgia? What does mandatory court-annexed mediation mean? How are mediators assigned to/chosen for a specific case and what force does a mediated settlement agreement have?

The Chair of the Mediators Association, Irakli Kandashvili, emphasized why lawyers should advise their clients about mediation in advance so that the client is not later surprised when the judge refers a case to mediation.

Rule of Law Program ADR Advisor Sophie Tkemaladze, who is also a practicing mediator, shared with participants the role she, as a mediator, expects a lawyer to have in mediation proceedings and helpful ways for lawyers to be involved in the proceedings.

Some mediator-lawyers who have had the experience of referring their clients to mediation also shared their perspective of how mediation makes economic sense for them in the context of getting remunerated for representation, as well as for helping settle a dispute, and, most importantly, in terms of having a satisfied client, who is potentially the best marketing tool to attract new clients.

Meeting with lawyers in the regions of Georgia is critical as court-annexed mediation centers are newly opened in the regions and the awareness and understanding of the benefits of mediation is still low. In addition, lawyers often do not realize that they have an ethical duty to inform clients about Alternative Dispute Resolution. These meetings serve as a refresher about the role of lawyers in helping their clients find the most suitable process for resolving their disputes, as well as an opportunity to inform lawyers how mediation operates and how can they best represent their clients in it.

The Program is planning to have future meetings in Gori, Mtskheta, Batumi and Telavi.