Mediation Balances the Power Between the Parties.
Society Civil Makes Mediation Available for Everyone Find Out More
What is Mediation?
Mediation is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution, often referred to as “ADR”. ADR is the alternative to going to trial. When a case is filed in court, the aggrieved party is normally the plaintiff, and the party from whom the plaintiff seeks payment or other relief becomes the defendant.
In most states, the court will be overcrowded with more cases than they can reasonably resolve in a timely manner. So, they have developed various ways to speed things along. One of them is to require the parties to engage in ADR. This may mean that the parties attend mediation, engage in arbitration, or present their case in a settlement conference before a magistrate or some other judge that is not really going to decide your case.
Arbitration, as in a regular trial court, will require the parties to produce evidence and make legal arguments showing why their version of the dispute is correct. While arbitration is frequently less formal than a trial court, the same rules of law and evidence apply. Unlike a trial court, however, the ability to appeal an arbitration award — the decision of the arbitrator — is limited. Moreover, the arbitrator may be selected from the pool of attorneys licensed in that jurisdiction. The lawyer acting as an arbitrator may or may not be familiar with your particular type of case. For example, if you have a real estate dispute, the lawyer selected to act as an arbitrator may specialize in personal injury and know only basic real estate law.
A settlement conference is generally held before a judge or retired judge, and that judge will decide how the conference goes forward. Frequently, a settlement conference judge will privately decide whose case is stronger, and then push the parties to agree to terms favorable to the stronger case. If that is you, great! But if it is not, you may feel pressured to agree to terms that you believe are unfair.
Mediation is different. In mediation, a knowledgeable mediator will help you work with the opposing party to find a solution you can both live with. It may mean that neither side gets everything they want, but if a solution is reached, it will be one you can live with because a mediator has no power to make decisions for you. You will not be forced into a resolution. So in that sense, even if the judge in a case orders you to mediation, the outcome is always voluntary.