Conflict Resolution

What is mediation?

Conflict with other people is difficult to avoid, on issues from a business's unsatisfactory products or services to property line disputes with neighbors. Such conflicts can be expensive to resolve in courts of law. Attorneys typically charge hundreds of dollars an hour, and a single civil lawsuit can take years to work its way through the legal system. This is particularly true if the case goes all the way to trial, or if the disappointed side files an appeal. Is there a better, cheaper way to resolve your dispute?

A mediation is essentially a facilitated negotiation. A third-party neutral mediator, who is trained in conflict resolution methods, sits with you and the person you're having the disagreement with and helps you both to talk things through. The mediator does not "take sides" or make a decision, like a judge or an arbitrator. Rather, the mediator works to find the root of the conflict and consider potential options.

While litigation accentuates differences between the parties, mediation works to bring the parties together. Often, disputing parties can emerge from a mediation closer than ever before. This is particularly useful in situations where you will both need to deal with one another repeatedly, often for a long period of time, such as with neighbors.

The costs of mediation work quite differently from the costs of litigation. In litigation, both sides would normally hire their own attorneys. Most attorneys charge by the hour, meaning that the longer the legal dispute takes, the more you pay in fees.

In mediation, it is not required that you and the other party hire separate attorneys. Indeed, it's often more efficient if it's just three of you around the table: you, the other party, and the neutral mediator. Having attorneys sitting beside you or speaking for you in a mediation can inhibit compromise. (After all, attorneys have a natural inclination to promote their own client's rights, sometimes at the expense of reasonable compromise.)