I was told that in my state a lawyer cannot represent one party and be a mediator at the same time due to conflict of interest. Mediation is to broker a fair deal - hard to see how that can happen if he represents one side. Also, mediation is to avoid the back-and-forth stuff which drives up the cost. Ideally, the whole deal shoud be hammered out and then you bring it to your lawyer for a final okay.
Or so I have been told; I did not use madiation.
Here an independent mediator is selected and each party pays half, thus no conflict. Each party has their own separate lawyer to fall back on.
But again, I would go with what your lawyer says. That is why you hired him.
Good luck. I understand that mediation is sometimes more stressful than using the lawyers as go-betweens.
