Why Try Mediation

✓ Mediation is risk-free...
It is non-binding unless a settlement agreement is actually reached. Once signed a settlement agreement is enforceable in court.
✓ Mediation is a process...
Parties in dispute choose a mediator, an impartial person, who helps them reach their mutually-acceptable settlement.
✓ Mediation is an alternative...
It is available to resolve disputes in such diverse areas as family relationships, accidents, banking, finance and commerce, consumer contracts, insurance, leases, real estate, marine and transportation.
✓ Mediation is empowering...
Through mediation the parties can control their own destinies concerning issues and disputes in which they have vested and continued interests.
✓ Mediation is recommended...
Judges and Lawyers suggest mediation as an alternative to litigation. In many cases, through mediation, the parties reach agreement, thus saving themselves emotional and financial costs.
✓ Mediation is a first step...
It is one way of reaching a mutually acceptable settlement. If Agreement cannot be achieved, the parties still can take other action such as arbitration or other legal proceedings.
✓ Mediation is fair...
Mediators are professionally trained, neutral third parties who have no interest in the outcome. Their role is to help the parties resolve the dispute. Unlike arbitration, a mediator does not resolve the dispute or impose a decision on the parties. Instead, the mediator helps the parties to agree on a mutually acceptable resolution, based on their own cost benefit analysis of their interests and options.
✓ Mediation is faster...
The process can begin immediately whereas disputes settled in court often take years. The process saves time and money. A majority of mediation cases are resolved in one session, which usually lasts from one to eight hours.
✓ Mediation is confidential...
You do not have to reveal your personal concerns in an open court of law. The sessions are informal and are not tape-recorded or transcribed. Information disclosed at any time during mediation cannot be revealed in future litigation, should the matter not be resolved.
✓ Mediation costs less...
If both parties want to reach a settlement through mediation, the skill of the mediator can help them reach a solution in a short time.
✓ Mediation preserves relationships...
The mediation process, and the communication and active listening involved, helps build trust between the parties and transform their relationships for the future. A mutually acceptable solution to a dispute lets both parties be winners and respect each other.
✓ Mediation works...
Settlement agreements secured during mediation are more likely to be voluntarily complied with by the parties than arbitration awards or judgments. Statistics also show that a vast majority of cases which are submitted to mediation actually settle and result in written settlement agreements.