Mediator directories list qualifications, and qualifications matter — formal training in a distinct discipline is not optional. But parties choosing between trained mediators are choosing on the wrong axis if they stop there. Four things decide whether a mediation works.
1. Neutrality You Can Verify — 2. Fluency in the Subject
Neutrality is a mediator’s only real asset, and it has to be checkable at the start rather than argued about later. Ask directly: has this mediator or their firm ever acted for any party here, in any matter? A firm that runs the conflicts check before discussing the dispute — asking for the names of every party in the first two minutes — is telling you something useful about how it treats the question. A party who discovers a prior connection mid-process loses confidence in everything that came before it. Subject fluency is the underrated one. A mediator does not need to be an expert in your industry, but they do need to understand what you are actually arguing about — because reality-testing is the core of the work, and a mediator who must have the mechanics of a sinking fund, a buy-out or a retention claim explained on the day cannot test anything credibly. Ask what comparable disputes they have handled. In technical fields, this is the difference between a day of movement and a day of translation.
3. Can They Draft the Deal — 4. Can They Design the Room
Drafting is where mediations are quietly won and lost. An agreement in principle at five o’clock is not a document both sides read identically in six months, and the gap between them is where deals die: ambiguity about timing, security, default, what is released, who executes what, how existing proceedings are disposed of. A mediator who can write the settlement in the room, while everyone is still present to resolve ambiguity, delivers something meaningfully different from one who sends parties away to have their lawyers build it — which is much of the argument for a solicitor-mediator, alongside the enforceability that follows. Process design matters most in the disputes people find hardest: multi-party matters where authority to settle is complicated (an OMC where the board may need a members’ resolution, a family where the person with no shareholding has all the influence, a construction dispute where the insurer is the real decision-maker). Ask how they would structure your day: who attends, in what order, whether a joint session helps or inflames, whether it should be staged. A mediator with a single template is a mediator who has not thought about your dispute.
One thing worth ignoring: settlement statistics. Nobody’s figures are audited, cases self-select enormously, and a mediator who takes only easy disputes will always show better numbers than one who takes hard ones. Ask about approach, conflicts, drafting and design instead — the answers are checkable.
Considering an appointment? The appointing page covers conflicts, fees and the agreement to mediate — or ring 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & Mediator
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981), holder of the Law Society of Ireland Diploma in Mediation and a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. Mediations are conducted at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay, at the firm’s Kilkenny office, at neutral venues, at the parties’ own premises — or fully online. Fees are agreed in writing with all parties before any mediation begins. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. The content of this website is general information about mediation and Irish law. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every dispute turns on its own facts, and advice on yours requires a consultation.
The mediator is not your legal adviser. Where Mary Molloy Solicitors is appointed as mediator, the mediator is neutral: the mediator acts for no party, advises no party, and does not decide the dispute. All parties are encouraged to take independent legal advice, and in particular to take advice before signing any mediation settlement. The firm does not act as mediator in any dispute in which it acts, or has acted, for a party — conflicts are checked before any appointment is accepted. Where the firm is instructed as solicitor for one party in a mediation, it acts for that party alone and does not act as mediator in that dispute.
Fees. Fees for mediation are agreed in writing with all parties before the mediation begins, and fees for legal services are agreed in writing with the client at the outset. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.
Tax. Nothing on this website is tax advice. Where a dispute or its resolution has tax consequences — succession, business transfers, property, compensation payments — those questions belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance, and are best addressed before any settlement is signed.