5 REASONS WHY MEDIATION WORKS BETTER THAN GOING TO COURT
Disputes happen in both life and in business. Many disputes end up in costly, lengthy, and usually unsatisfactory court proceedings. Mediation is an alternative way to resolve any dispute. Here five reasons why mediation works:
(1) You are in control because it is all about you
In the mediation process, the focus is on you, the people and/or businesses in dispute.
Unlike court proceedings a mediator will not judge you nor tell you what to do. As mediators we facilitate people and businesses in dispute to reach your own resolution; one with which you are satisfied.
You feel in control because you are in control. You decide what happens and when it happens.
(2) You will be heard
One of the greatest benefits of mediation is that you get to have your say. Anybody with a dispute wants the opportunity to be heard. We all want to tell our story and to explain our point of view. We want someone to listen to what we have to say.
The feeling of not being heard is one of the most frustrating things about court proceedings. In a court action your lawyer speaks on your behalf. You may not even be present at a court hearing. At best you only get the chance to make a written statement. You might answer questions from lawyers and then be cross examined about your answers. You certainly don’t get the chance to sit down and take your time to tell your side of things.
Mediation gives you the chance to be heard and to tell your story. The opportunity to explain things from your point of view and explain how you feel. You get the chance to speak to your mediator in private and to discuss everything you want to. You also decide what is shared with the person or business you are in dispute with and decide when it’s shared. Together with your mediator you can explore what’s happened and understand why it’s happened in an informal, private and more relaxed way.
(3) You decide your own resolution
At the end of court proceedings a judge makes a decision – you don’t. The judge decides what the parties in that despite have to do, not do, say and/or pay. This means that:
- You are bound by that decision. You must comply with a court order, even if you don’t like it. There are very serious consequences (including potentially prison) if you don’t.
- If you are the ‘winner’ you need to consider whether you have really ‘won’? You won’t recover all of your legal costs so you will still be left with a hefty bill. The ‘loser’ may not be able to afford to pay you so a person may go bankrupt or a business close down. You certainly will have closed that door on the relationship with them.
- If you ‘lose’ you’ll usually end up losing a lot more than you expected. Can you do what you are ordered to do? If not you might end up changing your life with bankruptcy or having to close your business.
With mediation you decide your own resolution. So, you agree
- how to resolve things.
- any amounts that have to be paid.
- any work or anything which has to be done.
- the dates or timings of when those things have to happen.
So,
- Nobody judges you. The resolution is always your decision.
- You can reach a flexible conclusion. One which a Court can’t order.
- You both agree deadlines for paying money or doing whatever you’ve agreed. Nobody tells you what or when something needs to happen.
(4) Mediation is much faster
A court case follows a procedure following strict court rules. It means exchanging certain information before you can even start (issue) proceedings. Once you’ve started court proceedings you’re bound by deadlines and must follow the process. For example, a defendant usually has 14 days to tell the Court that they’ve received your claim. They then usually have more time to reply. If they make a claim against you (counterclaim) you get time to respond. When that’s completed you deal with the court process and procedure, including exchanging evidence – allow at least 30 weeks!
Mediation can usually be organised and take place within a few days.
(5) Mediation is much cheaper – you can fix your own budget
Going to court is expensive whether you ‘win’ or ‘lose’. It is impossible to know what your costs will be when you start a court case. Your lawyer might be able to give you a ‘guesstimate’ but they can’t see into the future. You need to allow for unexpected expense like experts reports and fees. You can try and fix a budget but it’s difficult to pull out of a case because you’ve run out of cash.
You pay a fixed fee for mediation. You know in advance what the mediation is going to cost you.
There are many more reasons why mediation is better than court proceedings. We’ve just limited it to five! Recent audits about how effective mediation is shows that
- Mediations can be set up quickly – less than a week.
- The average mediation takes a little over a day to settle
- 93% of mediation cases settle (i.e. all the parties in a dispute reach a final agreement they are happy with).
If you have a dispute with a person or business then you owe it to yourself and your business to consider resolving it using mediation.
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