The lawyer’s role in family mediation – critical analysis to the Portuguese reality

Rossana Martingo Cruz

Keywords

Family mediation; lawyers; alternative dispute resolution; judiciary operators; justice administration; family mediator  

Abstract

The Portuguese judiciary reality has shown some resistance towards family mediation, as a method of resolving conflicts. This reaction, although common through all justice operators, has been carried out also by lawyers. Quite often, distrust comes from lack of knowledge from these new forms of justice. The apprehension may come from the idea that the lawyer becomes expendable in mediation. This fallacious shadow should fade away. Therefore, we should think about the lawyer’s role in family mediation, when representing one of the parties in the dispute.

The lawyer was and always will be an angular stone in justice administration and, obviously, indispensable in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (ADR).
The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that family mediation and lawyers should be side by side, instead of antagonizing each other.