What Should a Professional Mediation Intake Process Include?
A step-by-step guide to turning a new inquiry into a clearly opened, conflict-reviewed, and properly coordinated matter.
Complete Resolution Support · 7 min read
A professional mediation intake process should capture the parties, counsel, dispute type, requested dates, conflicts information, session format, fee expectations, and immediate next steps. It should also identify who owns each follow-up and when the inquiry becomes an active matter.
Respond promptly and personally
The first response should confirm receipt, identify what information is still needed, and explain the next step without creating unnecessary friction.
Gather the information that drives action
Intake should capture enough information to review conflicts, assess fit, identify participants, understand timing, and prepare accurate scheduling options.
Set expectations early
Counsel should understand how availability, holds, confirmations, fees, documents, and cancellations are handled before assumptions become problems.
Create a clean handoff into scheduling
Once the matter is appropriate to proceed, all relevant information should move into the scheduling and matter-management workflow without being re-created from email.
Should intake be automated?
Selected information gathering can be automated, but clients should still know who is responsible and how to reach a person when the matter requires judgment.
Who should conduct conflict review?
The neutral or the practice's approved process should make the conflict determination. Support can gather and organize the information needed for that review.