"I never learned a damn thing whilst I was talking"J E Morrow
Civil & Commercial Mediation
Why choose mediation?
Above all other options, mediation makes the most commercial sense because mediation provides
- A rapid resolution of disputes in just one day.
- An 80 per cent success rate (both nationally and internationally).
- Costs a fraction of the expense compared with conducting court proceedings.
- Allows you to control decision making rather than a judge.
Mediation saves individuals, companies and organisations weeks, months or even years of time, energy and manpower resources that would otherwise be required to support and conduct a dispute through litigation. In mediation, the disputants are the decision makers rather than a judge and this means that commercial realities and sensitivities together with medium and long-term concerns and aspirations can be taken in to account when resolving a dispute. This is something that litigation cannot achieve. In the words of a judge…
"In the absence of any compromise, someone wins, someone loses, it always costs a lot of money and usually generates a lot of ill-feeling that does not end with the litigation"
What disputes are suitable for mediation?
Commercial mediation can be used effectively in almost any scenario.
- Commercial contracts
- Professional negligence
- Intellectual property
- Clinical negligence
- Personal injury
- IT
- Construction
- Problems concerning the supply of goods and services
- Landlord and tenant
- Property
- Quasi commercial/family disputes over businesses/partnerships/inheritance
- Business reorganisation
- Boundary/rights of way
- Nuisance
- Environmental
What are the risks?
With civil & commercial mediation there are no risks. You can withdraw from mediation at any stage and cannot have a settlement imposed on you.
Mediation is confidential. In the unlikely event that you are unable to settle your dispute in mediation, the discussions that took place within mediation are entirely without prejudice. This means they cannot be used against you in future litigation.
In the small percentage of cases which cannot be resolved on the mediation day, often the insight and momentum gained during the mediation leads to a negotiated settlement afterwards or a limiting of the issues to be addressed in the court process.
What will the mediation process be like?
Before mediation starts, you and the other participant in mediation will have the opportunity to talk about the mediation process with the mediator you choose so that you understand the role of the mediator and how the mediation process works. The mediator is a neutral facilitator of the mediation process. If you are happy to proceed you will read and sign a mediation agreement and the mediator will draw up a schedule of pre-mediation arrangements and dates for providing the mediator with an agreed selection of documents about your case. You will also pay your share of the initial mediation fee in advance of the mediation day.
On the mediation day, whether you meet at an agreed venue, or your mediation is conducted online, your mediator will meet with you first privately in a real (or virtual) room to ensure that you understand what the day involves and address any questions you might have. There is no set process for mediation, but generally, if the mediator and you and the other participant agree, you may both then have a joint meeting in one physical (or virtual) room together. This joint meeting is hosted by the mediator and it is generally your lawyers who will talk and explain the respective positions of both participants and have any initial discussions which may be felt helpful before both participants retire to their own private rooms and negotiations commence.
During the course of the mediation day, the mediator moves between each room facilitating the negotiations. All conversations in each private room are confidential to that room and only information that participants authorise the mediator to share with the other party is exchanged. It is the mediator’s role to explore the circumstances of the dispute and each participant’s aims and needs with each party confidentially and evaluate what information may help to resolve the dispute in terms of common interests before assisting with the negotiations.
The mediator is an expert communicator, trained to listen carefully and to “read” the said and unsaid communications with a view to seeking and identifying areas of common ground or possibilities for compromise. Disputes are naturally emotive and it is the mediator’s role to objectively distil and diffuse difficulties so that positive and constructive issues can be focussed on and a suitable solution is achieved for both participants.
At the end of the mediation day, when an agreement has been reached, supervised by the mediator, the lawyers for both participants draw up a settlement agreement, which is a binding legal document, to conclude the dispute and it is signed by both participants.
What do I do next?
You can select a mediator from our TEAMS and make contact to discuss your needs.
Please CONTACT us, if you and the other party needing mediation services are unable to agree on a mediator and you both need us to appoint a mediator from our team on your behalf. Some information about our “Appointment Service” can be found HERE
