One interesting consequence of the quarantine we note in our law firm is that many people are getting more interested in settlement. Indeed, the Courts are closed, the heads are cooled, business is to continue without additional financial burden. What’s the next possible solution if there is no available Court to close up a conflict? It is negotiation and settlement.
No wonder mediation has become rapidly a star of the market.
What is the goal of a commercial or civil litigation after all? It is to end up at a better position than in the beginning of the conflict. If neither party gets to a better position, then no one wins. Both lose.
Litigation exhaust resources, this is no secret. Directly — you must spend considerable amounts of money on legal fees, lawyers, experts, procedural steps. Indirectly — you must divert those resources from your development, promotion, sales. Not to mention that you often get bad publicity even if you are right: customers and partners tend to avoid dealing with a business entangled in lawsuits.
The longer the litigation, the closer the point where both parties lose. And the better managers and accountants those parties have, the sooner they start thinking of a settlement. (Best of all, even before a lawsuit started, of course).
Business needs to go on, whether the Courts are open or not. Stalling is deadly for business. Hence no surprise that mediation is much in demand.
Mediation is safe: a mediator is a neutral party, but not a judge: if you don’t get to an agreement, you don’t get a bad judgement either and your options are still open. Information revealed in mediation cannot be used in Court.
Moreover, an attentive and tactful mediator could draw attention to both advantages and disadvantages of each position (in private, without exposing those to another party) and, with some good will and luck, help both parties to limit their respective requests, making them reasonable and plausible — to find common ground and reach a settlement.
If winning means to end up in a better position than in the beginning of the conflict, to stop exhausting resources and to reduce costs, then mediation is one of the most reasonable ways to go
Getting to mediation
Steps to get to mediation are easy and clear:
- Both parties agree to seek mediation;
- Both parties agree on a particular mediator to hire (you lawyer is usually able to help you to find one);
- Each party meets the mediator separately for a preliminary interview;
- Parties sign the papers prepared by that mediator;
- Parties agree on the place, date and time;
- Parties come to a mediation meeting (alone or with their lawyers if they so prefer);
- They might be in the same room or in separate rooms, avoiding unnecessary emotional interference (then the mediator would shuttle between them);
- Mediation might take several hours or several days, depending on complexity of the issues;
- If an agreement (a comprehensive or in some part) is reached, the documents are drafted and signed;
- At the end both parties receive a report.
Mediation with Allen Madelin
Allen Madelin is working in the area of civil and commercial litigation, so we have first-hand knowledge of the problem. In this difficult time, we do our best to help our clients to settle, leaving their conflicts behind.
We provide mediation services in civil and commercial cases and welcome everyone to use this fast and less expensive way to put an end to their conflicts and move on.
You can contact us at 514-904-4017 or via email: [email protected] for details.
