Ulrich Engelfried

From 1999 until my retirement from the judiciary in 2021, I worked as a family court judge.
I completed mediation qualifications in 2007/2008. For family law experts, mediation skills have long been part of the common and good professional practice. My very personal motivation was the realization that mediative elements in the conduct of negotiations, but also real mediation, are particularly helpful in family law, which is often emotionally charged. In fact, the role of the family court judge is to balance things out as far as possible and only to be the classic judicial decision-maker in extreme cases. So it was a natural process for me to get into mediation.
I realized that having more time than in a “normal” court hearing was very positive.

As I worked more and more as a mediator in court conciliation proceedings, I learnt to appreciate mediation increasingly and take great pleasure in my work as a mediator.

I make every effort to ensure that each person involved can say and contribute what is important to him or her. I don’t let myself be dissuaded from doing this even if it seems or appears that the implementation is not leading to an agreement. The Chinese proverb “If you are in a hurry, take a detour” applies to me here. Many people who have experienced me in my professional work and as a mediator consider me to be calm, balanced and fair.
I would always like to live up to this.

Family law issues, covering the entire spectrum of family law, i.e. child custody and property issues:

Custody, child contact, maintenance, gains, pension equalization, etc.

For me, it is equally important whether it is about a comprehensive “overall package” or a specific aspect.
The aim is always to find a solution that is acceptable to both sides and at the same time legally viable.

I worked as a guardianship judge for a long time and I have seen that internal family disputes about a family member under guardianship are very suitable for mediation.
I also have experience with mediation in general civil law.

I worked as a judge for 30 years, from the beginning of 1992 until the end of 2021.
Since then, I have been working as a lecturer in training and further education and as an author, as well as volunteering in an internal association complaints office and in the Hamburg supervisory commission for closed facilities.

In my spare time I also play theater, enjoy running and am an active family man – I am married and have three grown-up children and two “stepchildren” as well as a grandchild.