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Mediated cases settle in a confidential, non-adversarial setting designed to foster constructive conversations and negotiations.
Those negotiations are aided by a neutral mediator, acting as an agent of reality. Through evaluative questions and insightful conversation, the mediator encourages a practical, collaborative, and creative approach to decision-making. In other words, the parties not only have the chance to control the outcome – and define their terms for peace – the options for settlement are constrained only by the parties’ creativity.
By contrast, the filing of a lawsuit is, essentially, a request for the government – through the court system – to publicly decide how to end a private dispute. While judicial intervention is a wonderful right that is vitally important to our communities, it is not always the best possible avenue to resolving a conflict.
In that public forum, parties typically incur significant delays and expense with legal fees and distractions, which can significantly diminish the value of a “win” or exacerbate a “loss” at the courthouse. Arbitrations often share these aspects with litigation. So, while every mediated case is not going to settle, giving a case a reasonable chance at settlement through mediation is an option that more often than not adds to the overall value of a resolution.
In addition...
to confidentiality, control, and creative solutions, a mediated resolution is also more certain and cost-effective. Achieving peace through mediation means avoiding the uncertainty of a trial and possible appeal, and – when conducted early in the lifecycle of a dispute – side-stepping or short-circuiting an expensive and slow litigation or arbitration process. Mediation, thus, affords parties the chance to reduce the amount of time, money, and emotional resources spent on a dispute that ends up in litigation or arbitration or is headed in that direction.
And, finally, because laws protect the confidentiality of the mediation process, parties are able to preserve underlying litigation or arbitration positions should settlement talks prove unsuccessful.
It’s a win-win.
Litigation v. Mediation
Key Differences