Q: Must I be confidential about information received before signing a confidentiality. agreement?
At a mediation I signed a confidentiality agreement. Days before, I received a mediation brief and showed my physician and others the mediation brief. Can I still show people the mediation brief since I received it before mediation? Also isn't the mediation confidentiality agreement only for what was said at mediation?
Thank you.
A:
The answer is yes to both questions. Unless the Mediation Brief itself was marked as confidential (which would be unusual in my experience) you were perfectly at liberty to show it to persons who might be involved in the mediation. At the mediation hearing itself, the confidentiality provision is to encourage all parties to be flexible in order that the possibility of reaching an agreement is maximized. No one can use anything said by any other party for any purpose after the mediation is concluded.
Nevertheless, I would confirm that with the Mediator.
I agree with Mr. Shaikh with the modification that the result of a mediation is an agreement, not a "decision".
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