MEDIATION …WHY NOW?
With the current long delays in getting to trial and the cost of conducting a trial is considered, mediation has become more popular.
Mediation involves the intervention of an independent third party into the dispute to assist the parties in negotiating a jointly acceptable resolution of the dispute.
The success of mediation depends on a number of things. The most important is a commitment by both parties to attempt to find a resolution. Both parties must enter the process with a desire to settle. The mediator’s task is to bring parties from positions far apart to a resolution somewhere in between.
Mediation is not the time for counsel to try their case. If that is their intention, the matter has to be resolved by the Courts.
In addition to commitment, the parties must bring to the table a willingness to compromise. It is often said that a successful mediation is one that leaves both parties unhappy with the result. A better way of looking at it might be to say both parties are happy that their issue has been resolved and neither party has to suffer a further delay.
A good mediator, in addition to their independence, brings a willingness to listen to both sides with an open mind. They are a facilitator. Their task is to move the parties from their initial position to one that both parties can accept.
We believe our knowledge and experience, gained over more than 80 years, will help to find a resolution.
We are determined to keep you out of court and to end the emotional and financial toll of waiting for your day.
“
The Courts of this country should not be the place where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the place where disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried.
– Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
