When may a person who is not an attorney act as representative in the mediation, and when must that person obtain the mediation panel's permission in advance?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
For this exercise we read the papers showing who appeared for each side and whether that person is an attorney, any permission granted in advance by the mediation panel, and, where the representative is the applicant's spouse, lineal blood relative, sibling or affiliated employee, the written proof of relationship and authority, or the note that the applicant appeared and confirmed the appointment.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading holds that a non-attorney must obtain the mediation panel's permission in advance to act as representative of the applicant or the respondent, but that the applicant's spouse, lineal blood relative, sibling or affiliated employee may act without that permission unless the applicant expressly objects, and must then prove the relationship and authority in writing or have the applicant appear and confirm the appointment.
Another reading stresses that the exemption from permission is written only for representatives of the applicant, so a spouse or employee of the respondent falls back on the general rule and needs the panel's prior permission, and the provision leaves open how the panel decides such an application or what it must record.
Your judgment
If an affiliated employee acted for the applicant, what in the file could show whether the applicant expressed an objection to that person acting as representative?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change which relatives or employees may act without permission, or if a panel rule or decision states what an express objection must look like and when it must be raised.