QUESTION OF VALUESI wonder whether Thelma Fisher, chairwoman of the UK College of Family Mediators, could have been misquoted in describing mediation as an alternative to the legal process (see [2001] Gazette,5 January, 4).Mediation is an alternative to litigation, not a substitute for the legal process or lawyer-led negotiations.

In divorce proceedings, consent orders are often needed and these may be based on arrangements worked out in mediation, assisted by independent legal advice to each party.Good mediators facilitate the necessary exchange of information and help both parties pinpoint key questions to take to their legal advisers.

As professor Gwynn Davis points out in his report, direct commun-ication can be extremely helpful for couples who accept the mediation forum, especially for those with children.

Although a dispute over contact may be settled in mediation without any legal process, this is only one of the issues in separation and divorce.

Mediation on all issues complements the legal process, without replacing it.I see no basis for meaningful comparison between solicitors and mediators.

Rivalry between them is unnecessary and tends to disappear once each fully comprehends the other's role.Some 85% of mediation cases in the research sample were referred to 'not-for-profit' services, preponderantly on children issues, compared with 41% of s.29 referrals going to solicitor mediators, with a preponderance of financial issues.

Solicitor mediators are only now getting a larger share of the mediation market.Therefore, it is still too early to draw conclusions about the value of mediation on all issues, combined with legal advice and with negotiation between solicitors, as necessary.

First, we need to be clearer about the values we are looking for and accept that any simple comparison between different processes catering for different client groups is likely to be misleading, as professor Davis himself says.

Lisa Parkinson, director of Family Mediation Training, ADR Family