MEDIATION DIFFERS FROM ARBITRATION At Joseph V. Luvara & Associates, Mediation is our preferred way of dealing with virtually any contentious matters between persons seeking to file for divorce since the forum tends to open lines of communication and empowers, yet holds responsible, those who have decided to file. However, both mediation and arbitration are ways you and your spouse can resolve any differences between you without going to court. Many people tend to view Mediation and Arbitration as the same. They are not. These are very different ways of resolving differences. Mediators really do not have any power to impose a decision on the husband and the wife. He or she is there solely to help the husband and wife find a resolution that both of them will find acceptable. If they cannot agree, that's as far as the mediator can go. The secret to mediation is to give the power and authority to the husband and wife and for the mediator to guide both the those issues that are of paramount importance and those which can be reduced to a written agreement. An arbitrator, on the other hand, has the power to impose a settlement. The arbitrator listens to the arguments in favor of the husband and the arguments in favor of the wife, and then renders a ruling. Typically, the husband and the wife will agree in writing to submit to arbitration before the process begins. Also, they will decide whether or not the arbitration is binding. If it is not, then the husband and wife will determine what level of review is to happen next. They will agree in advance to be bound by the arbitrator's decision a way it deems fair given the particular circumstances of the cases.