§ 8.01-581.24.Standards and duties of mediators; confidentiality; liability.

This section spells out what a mediator owes the parties. A mediator selected under this chapter may encourage and assist the parties toward a resolution of their dispute, but the statute draws a firm line against going further — the mediator may not compel or coerce anyone into a settlement agreement. The mediator also has an ongoing obligation to remain impartial and free from conflicts of interest in each case, and to step aside if partiality or a conflict develops.

Confidentiality runs both directions between the parties, too. Unless the disclosing party expressly authorizes it, the mediator can’t pass along to one party information the other shared in confidence. And unless the parties agree otherwise, the mediator can’t disclose information exchanged during the mediation, or observations about how the parties and their counsel conducted themselves and behaved.

There’s a carve-out for disputes involving child support. There, the parties have to disclose to each other and to the mediator the financial information needed to complete the child support guidelines worksheet required by § 20-108.2, and any resulting computations, along with reasons for deviating from the guidelines, get built into the written agreement.