Mediation is designed to save you the emotional and financial burden of litigation by helping you and the opposing party reach an amicable solution, reduce that to a written agreement or stipulation, and file it along with the necessary paperwork to have the agreement enforced as an order of the court. Many family law clients find that mediation is the best way for them to resolve their differences in a time-efficient, cost-effective manner. Mediation requires that both sides participate "in good faith.