This week has seen the launch of the mediation website www.mediated-solutions.co.uk and as always when mediation is discussed, inevitably it leads to me being asked by clients and lawyers alike if mediation really works. It is 14 years since I first experienced mediation and the biggest thing that has changed in that time is the increasingly enlightened attitude of clients and lawyers who are finally recognising that, without any sign of weakness, the willingness to sit down with a neutral third party and explore creative solutions to a dispute can actually bring savings of time and money.
“But why do we need a mediator” is the next chirpy comment that emerges. “If we can’t settle it ourselves sitting round the table then a mediator could never settle it”. But this misses the invaluable dynamic a mediator can bring to a settlement meeting.
A mediator is neutral and can talk to the parties without being for or against their case. A mediator is objective and can test the realities. A mediator should be the trusted honest broker. Most importantly, a mediator is confidential and can get into the unique position of fully understanding both of the parties private positions and therefore seeing if there is any overlap.
And the reasons mediations fail?
In my own experience around 90% of mediations result in settlement, and of disputes where I have been appointed as mediator, so far 2010 has a 100% success rate. But the major impediment I usually see is a lack of preparation. It is essential that the clients and their lawyers have spent some serious time thinking about what is actually achievable if they take their case to court and the realistic risks and costs they face. Providing those issues are addressed then a competent mediator stands a very good chance of bringing favourable settlement terms to most disputes. Don’t knock it until you have tried it. And never say never.
