Why Mediation ?
The first question you're probably asking yourself is why you should opt for Mediation over traditional legal methods. There are a host of reasons, but consider the following for starters:
Greater Control
Let's start with one that might surprise you. It's about the notion of control.
If you decide to go to court, you effectively place the outcome in the hands of a third party. In other words, you gamble with how a judge will view your case. And no matter how learned he or she may be, you've still yielded control over your own destiny.
With mediation, however, the two parties have a much greater say in the outcome. Granted, both of them can't get everything they want, but they still retain a very significant ability to affect the ultimate outcome.
Cost Control
Then there's the cost aspect. Independent estimates indicate that Mediation costs about 30% of the comparable legal costs. You also need to factor in the fact that going to court will eat up a huge amount of time, and the costs can escalate with every extra day in court.
With Mediation, not alone are the costs that much lower, but they're also shared equally by the conflicted parties, so nobody is seen to ‘lose' in terms of costs being awarded against them.
Save Time
Litigation is a highly protracted affair and the average legal dispute takes 515 days to resolve through the courts. The comparative figure for mediation is just 40 days.
Protecting Relationships
There are personal reasons, too, why Mediation makes real sense. Many businesses are started by friends, but when a business issues arises, it puts huge pressure on the friendship.
Mediation delivers the potential that personal relationships can be salvaged, as it's a non-confrontational method that's focused on the solution rather than the problem of the past. This is doubly important if they want to retain a working commercial relationship.
Maintaining Privacy
Another benefit of Mediation is that you don't have to wash your dirty linen in public. Your customers, suppliers – even your staff – needn't know all the details of the dispute. In fact, both sides are bound to a strict confidentiality clause which means that what happens within Mediation stays within Mediation.