Whose Mediation is it Anyway?

A few weeks ago I conducted a mediation involving a post divorce matter. The husband owned his own business and had done quite well. The wife had some employment, however, she had obviously fallen on difficult times and the child originally living with her had gone to the husband's custody.

It was obvious this family was struggling to find it's way through some very difficult problems. The attorneys could only focus on rights based discussions while the husband was begging for a solution outside those considerations. In fact, he really just wanted someone to talk to, other than his attorney. He felt his attorney was not listening to him with her dogged insistence on only rights based solutions. The attorney actually left the mediation at my request so the parties could talk privately but she pitched a fit over the resolution claiming SHE would not agree to it as it constituted malpractice. The husband called me, I returned the call but only got his voicemail.

I truly felt sad over the attorney's failure to look at the incredible harm the litigation was inflicting on the family. It was obvious to me that the attorney was concerned only with her perspective and would not consider her client's needs and wants.

Thoughts?