Mediator Malpractice Overview > Mediator Malpractice/Tconf.
Mediator Malpractice/ Telephone Conference
Voir Dire/Questions
Questions to be asked contemporaneously with the execution of a settlement agreement:
1. Have you read the agreement?
2. Do you understand the agreement?
3. Have you asked your attorney all your questions and has he/she answered them satisfactorily?
4. Have you executed this agreement voluntarily?
5. Do you understand by signing this agreement you are entering into a legally enforceable contract?
6. Do you have any physical, emotional, or psychological problems that would have prevented you from understanding what we did here today?
Try and ask these questions in joint session with all parties and attorneys present to witness the questions and the answers. If a joint session is not possible, have these questions asked in private session but ask the other attorney to be present so that he/she can witness the questions and answers as well. The point of the exercise is to make sure that both the client and all present understand that the agreement is being signed appropriately and fairly. It also creates witnesses if such becomes a problem later. Lastly, it also provides the mediator with a "regular business practice" that can be accepted by the court as an exception to the hearsay rule and therefore benefits you the mediator in the event you do have to testify.
|
