When to think about a legal mediator

By Stephen Mays


Mediation is a fast, fair alternative choice to standard lawsuits. There are several times in conventional litigation when people get to the point of giving up on any hope of reaching a settlement. Mediation sessions can be scheduled relatively swiftly compared with meeting with a barrister, and the time factors concerned are far less. Now rather than possibly waiting for several years to resolve a matter, you may be able to do it in days or a fortnight.

When should you consider legal mediation? Typically when the legal proceedings involves someone (or several folk) with whom you need to continue to communicate positively in future times. As an example, business partners, neighbors, or a marriage partner. Court actions sometimes polarize a situation with power plays, which can simply undermine any lasting leftover relationship and correspondence. By comparison, mediation hopes to resolve differences with all parties present and providing input on what they consider a fair settlement.

Another reason to consider mediation is when you're dealing with a fairly highly secret material. What happens during mediation is subject to confidentiality laws. Nothing that happens here becomes available for public examination, unlike a court trial. The only possible way the standard litigation can avoid this is by having a judge seal the info, and they don't do that often apart from in the case of minors.

Third, when the parties involved do not have the finances for an extended law suit, mediation saves money. Many states have nonprofit mediators for minor disputes concerning the town, consumer Problems, personal injury claims and some workplace issues. The expenses involved are a small part of full scale legal proceedings in court.

Whether or not you have already engaged lawyers who've started to proceed with presenting your interests, mediation is still an option. Very often when parties do not need to 'talk through ' an unrelated party, they start finding concepts that lawyers may instead discourage. A lawyers job is representing your interest, not compromising, and 'winning ' the case. A mediator's job is all about finding middle ground where nobody wins or loses - but everybody walks away feeling like fairness rules the roost. Also many people find that the language of mediation is much easier to understand and process than legal terminology, which is frequently disheartening and more convoluted than it has to be.

A good mediator points out the weakness and strength in all parties viewpoints. This worldwide approach facilitates more give and take, provided the individuals are really prepared to chat, listen and act. In a court, after a long battle, folk regularly walk away irritated and keen to change or out-right violate the result of a judgment. In mediation, the hope is that because folk freely arrive at their settlements together, they follow through on the mediation agreement more consistently.

This article is for informational uses only. You should usually talk to your attorney before making any legal calls. The Mays Law Firm isn't responsible for action taken based on information in this article.




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