ADR Family & Workplace Mediation 2

Question 1

In child custody mediation, what does the 'best interests of the child' standard primarily require a mediator to do?

Accepted Answer

Keep the child's welfare as the central focus of all discussions

Answer

The best interests standard requires the mediator to keep the child's overall welfare—physical, emotional, educational—as the central frame for all discussions.

Question 2

Which workplace mediation scenario most clearly calls for the mediator to pause and address power imbalance?

Accepted Answer

An HR director and an employee mediating a harassment complaint

Answer

A hierarchical power imbalance is most acute when an authority figure (HR director) mediates against an employee on a sensitive complaint, requiring the mediator to actively level the playing field.

Question 3

What is 'shuttle mediation' and when is it most useful in family disputes?

Accepted Answer

A process where the mediator meets with each party separately to carry proposals between them

Answer

Shuttle mediation involves the mediator moving between separate rooms to convey proposals, and it is most useful when direct contact between parties would be unsafe or counterproductive.

Question 4

Under the Uniform Mediation Act (UMA), which of the following communications is generally NOT protected by mediation privilege?

Accepted Answer

A threat to commit a crime made during the session

Answer

The UMA contains an exception to privilege for communications that constitute a threat or plan to commit a crime or inflict bodily harm.

Question 5

In a workplace discrimination mediation, why should a mediator avoid evaluating the legal merits of the claim?

Accepted Answer

Because legal analysis is outside the mediator's ethical authority and could bias the process

Answer

Evaluating legal merits shifts the mediator into an adjudicative role, undermining neutrality and potentially pressuring parties toward outcomes they would not freely choose.

(ADR) Alternative Dispute Resolution Certification Practice Test

(ADR) Alternative Dispute Resolution Certification Practice Test

ADR Family & Workplace Mediation 2