State courts and legislatures have perceived these benefits, as well as the popularity of mediation, and have publicly supported mediation through funding and statutory provisions that have expanded dramatically over the last twenty years. See, Cole et al., supra 5:1-5:19; Richard C. Reuben, The Lawyer Turns Peacemaker, 82 A.B.A. J. 54 (Aug. 1996). The legislative embodiment of this public support is more than 2500 state and federal statutes and many more administrative and court rules related to mediation. See Cole et al, supra apps. A and B.

The primary guarantees of fairness within mediation are the integrity of the process and informed self-determination. Self-determination also contributes to party satisfaction. Consensual dispute resolution allows parties to tailor not only the result but also the process to their needs, with minimal intervention by the State. For example, parties can agree with the mediator on the general approach to mediation, including whether the mediator will be evaluative or facilitative. This party agreement is a flexible means to deal with expectations regarding the desired style of mediation, and so increases party empowerment. Indeed, some scholars have theorized that individual empowerment is a central benefit of mediation. See, e.g., Robert A. Baruch Bush & Joseph P. Folger, The Promise of Mediation (1994).

Self-determination is encouraged by provisions that limit the potential for coercion of the parties to accept settlements, see Section 9(a), and that allow parties to have counsel or other support persons present during the mediation session. See Section 10. The Act promotes the integrity of the mediation process by requiring the mediator to disclose conflicts of interest, and to be candid about qualifications. See Section 9.

3. Importance of uniformity.

This Act is designed to simplify a complex area of the law. Currently, legal rules affecting mediation can be found in more than 2500 statutes. Many of these statutes can be replaced by the Act, which applies a generic approach to topics that are covered in varying ways by a number of specific statutes currently scattered within substantive provisions.