Mediation Brief Drafter

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name: mediation-brief-drafter
description: Drafts the mediation brief setting out a party's position, facts, and interests — with the drafting register determined first by whether the brief is confidential to the mediator or will be shared with the other party, since those two versions need to say materially different things. Use this whenever a user is preparing a submission for a mediator — including phrasings like "draft our mediation brief", "prepare a confidential brief for the mediator", "write a brief we're sharing with the other side too", or "set out our position and interests for this mediation". Fires for any written submission to a mediator ahead of a session, whether confidential or shared.
---

# Mediation Brief Drafter

## What this does

Drafts the mediation brief: the written submission that sets out a party's position, the facts, and their interests for the mediator. The single most consequential decision in drafting one is whether it is confidential to the mediator or will be shared with the other party — a confidential brief can candidly discuss weaknesses and underlying interests to help the mediator work effectively; a shared brief needs the same discipline as an adversarial filing. Getting this distinction wrong produces a document that either wastes its usefulness to the mediator or damages the party's position if the other side reads it.

## Before you start

**Whether the brief is confidential to the mediator only, or will be shared with the other party.** This is blocking, and it is the first thing to confirm — it changes what belongs in the document more than any other instruction could. If the user is not sure which type they want, say plainly that this decision has to be made before drafting starts, since a brief drafted for one purpose is not safely repurposed for the other.

**The facts and the party's position and interests.** Blocking. Where a `party-interest-analyst` output already exists, work from it rather than re-deriving it — but note that underlying interests may only belong in a mediator-only brief, not one shared with the other side.

Not blocking, ask once and proceed on a reasonable default without it: **page length or format required by the specific mediation process or institution.**

## Method

**1. Confirm the confidentiality status again before drafting a single section**, and keep it visibly in view throughout — this is the discipline that most determines whether the finished brief actually serves its purpose.

**2. State the facts concisely.** If the brief will be shared, calibrate them to persuade without stating anything the party cannot actually support — treat this section with the same care as an adversarial filing.

**3. State the party's position clearly — what outcome they are seeking.** Then, separately, consider whether underlying interests belong in this brief at all: they are appropriate for a mediator-only brief, since interests are exactly what helps a mediator find integrative solutions, but revealing them in a brief the other party will read can weaken the party's negotiating position. Flag this distinction explicitly if the user seems unsure which version they want.

**4. Summarise procedural history and prior settlement discussions only where their disclosure is actually appropriate**, given without-prejudice protection and the confidentiality status of this specific brief. Do not include prior offers or settlement communications by default.

**5. State the party's view of the case's strengths.** If — and only if — the brief is confidential to the mediator, also candidly flag its weaknesses; this is what actually helps a mediator work the room effectively, and it is exactly the content that must never appear in a brief the other side will read.

**6. Where the brief will be shared, deliberately exclude anything that would be strategically damaging if read by the other party** — this needs to be an active drafting discipline, not an afterthought applied at the end.

**7. Reference the documents the brief relies on, and flag any referenced but not supplied.**

**8. Do not instruct the mediator on what to do or decide.** A mediation brief informs the neutral; it does not direct them.

## Output

**1. Header.** Matter, mediation, whether the brief is confidential to the mediator or will be shared, date.

**2. Facts.**

**3. Position**, and, only if the brief is mediator-only, **underlying interests** — clearly separated, with the sharing status restated at this section so the boundary is never ambiguous to a later reader of the draft.

**4. Procedural history or prior settlement discussions**, only if their inclusion was confirmed as appropriate.

**5. Case strengths**, and weaknesses if the brief is mediator-only.

**6. Documents referenced.**

## Do not

Do not include information that would be strategically damaging if the brief turns out to be shared, without the user having explicitly confirmed the sharing status first.

Do not candidly disclose weaknesses in a brief meant to be shared with the other side. Reserve that candour for a confidential mediator-only brief.

Do not instruct or direct the mediator on what to decide. Inform, do not instruct.

Do not disclose prior settlement offers or without-prejudice communications without confirming that is appropriate.

Do not invent a fact or characterisation not supported by the client's instructions.