Mutual commitments about behavior are the core content of a mediated agreement. This agreement is a summary of any general agreement between the parties, and is drafted by either the lawyer of the parties or the opposing lawyer. This document will be a long version of the mediated settlement agreement, which will eventually be signed by the judge. The mediation agreement must respect the dynamic and fundamental principles of the mediation process. The mediator's role is to help the parties understand and realize their respective interests, and to crystallize what is most important to them in order to classify the points of dispute.
Once the mediator has helped the parties reach an agreement, they will draft a mediated settlement agreement or “MSA”. The revisions of an interim agreement requested by the parties provide the mediator with an important tool: an understanding of the parties' underlying intentions toward each other and what they really think about the mediation process so far. The mediation agreement is a product of two parties coming together voluntarily to resolve their dispute under the guidance of an expert mediator.
