When lawyers ask me about mediation, the first thing they usually want to know is what the career prospects are. For a whole category of matters, mediation is no longer optional, and its result is treated by the law as close to a decree. A lawyer who does not understand it is missing part of the picture. The lawyer is not a spectatorThere is a common belief at the bar that mediation is something the mediator does while the lawyer waits for it to fail. It looks weak only if you assume the client came for a fight.