An Analysis On The Role Of Lawyers In Mediation

As a member of the legal community,lawyers play multiple roles in it.In mediation,a different part the lawyer stand by,a different role the layer plays,the different behaviors and strategies the lawyer implements will bring different results.There are two models in the current practice of lawyer mediation.One is to establish independent mediation mechanism in which lawyers control the whole mediation process independently,such as the "Qingdao lawyer mediation center".The other is that the lawyer embeds into the mediation mechanism as an individual to work together and preside over the mediation,in which "Shenzhen Futian model" is the typical one.In the mediation,the court,government agencies,the parties to the dispute,the law firm as well as lawyers all are participating subject in mediation.However,due to the different positions of each subject and their different roles and functions for lawyer in mediation,the expectations are not consistent.Lawyers play the role of court trustee,the government partner,the waiter of the parties,the law firm salesman,as well as the mediation of the organizers respectively in their dominant or presided mediation.When these roles reflect the differences in the needs of the mediation of the subject,they also bring many role problems to the lawyer.The imperfect legal rules and regulations and the fluctuation of the parties make the lawyer lack clear behavior basis in mediation,thus the expectation of parties mediated lawyer is unknown.Obstacles are brought to trust relationship established by lawyers owing to human relations tilt and institutional constraints in mediation.The gap of mediation concept between people and lawyers under the context of rare judicial resources makes lawyers the deviate in understanding the role.Lawyers’ understanding of mediation and limitation on lawyer identity and status by government and courts often encounters the conflict in role choice.Therefore,analyzing the role of lawyers in the mediation of structure,function and interaction process and identifying the role lawyers played in the mediation by using "role theory" is of great significance to build orderly lawyer mediation mechanism.Attention needs to be paid to two aspects in the process of establishing lawyer mediation mechanism: one is to play the function of Lawyers Association to train and manage lawyers so that they may change the role in mediation timely and clarify its position;two is to improve the cultural and economic environment.More social tolerance and financial support should be given to lawyers participating in mediation.Lawyers’ mediation boundary and rights should be set in the system to clear the role expectation.