Mediation Fundamentals - What Do You Need To know?
What Are The Benefits to You? Why Should You Happily Accept Mediation?Mediation Fundamentals – what Do you Need To know?
As you can see at GetMediation we’ve built our reputation on helping people put painful and expensive disputes behind them so they can get on with their lives and with living.
Our passion and philosophy is that mediation is manifestly preferable to litigation and we believe it is important for you to get the most from the process. Because of that it’s important you understand what mediation is and what it is not.
What Mediation Is – and What It Isn’t
Your GetMediation mediator is not a judge, and they’re not here to offer you legal advice. They are there to help you and your opponent in the dispute find a solution that works for each of you.
This solution will be something that you both agree – and it will be a binding agreement. A written agreement will be drawn up and signed after a successful conclusion to the mediation – and mediation works so well because this is YOUR agreement. In other words, YOU have worked through the issues and arrived at your own solution – it hasn’t been imposed.
Mediation is so successful because you simply can’t lose! If you don’t agree, then there’s no deal.
The mediated solution is often the “common sense” solution, rather than something imposed on you by a court (after months or even years of anguish and expense).
Benefits Of Mediation
It’s unlikely that either participant will get everything they wanted (just as it is in court) but each participant can live with and accept it because a mediated solution is something that:
- Saves further legal fees (including the risk on paying opponent’s costs after losing in court)
- Instantly ends the stress and sleepless nights caused by the ongoing dispute
- Gives the participants their lives back
- Removes any uncertainty about the outcome in court
- Saves an enormous amount of time
- Gives ownership – this agreement is owned by the parties – not imposed by a judge
- Can save face and preserve or repair relationships – both participants are “winners” and less adversarial as a result
For all these reasons (and more) mediation proves time and again to be a much better solution provider than court.
Mediation Summary
It’s obvious when you take a moment to think about it. Why would you want to spend many months more in turmoil and full of trepidation along with many thousands of pounds to eventually get to stand in an austere, intimidating court room and have a formal and stern figure impose a compromise on you?
It’s only common sense – and you can see the benefits of mediation for yourself, so you can book your mediation in confidence now.
Why You Should Use Our Mediators
We only offer the very best people in their fields as mediators at GetMediation – so you can go ahead with mediating your dispute in total confidence that you’re doing the right thing and that you’re doing it with the right people.
In almost all cases our commercial mediators will help you bring to life an agreed settlement in just ONE day – and let you get on with your life without the pain and expense you were experiencing.
Doesn’t that sound so much better than all the cost and consternation of a court battle, where the uncertain outcome isn’t in your hands at all, but will be “handed down” to you from a complete stranger?
Our High Quality Meditors
- general civil and commercial cases
- insurance claims
- property actions
- partnership and minority shareholder disputes
- private client and trust litigation
Will Help You With…
- employment and workplace issues
- professional negligence cases
- financial services claims
- product liability claims
- defamation and media actions
"I was sceptical it could be done - but the mediator pulled it off, and we signed an agreement and put an end to years of fighting."
Our Top Quality Mediation Is: Confidential, Voluntary, and Gives YOU Control Over The Outcomes You Agree
Confidential
Confidentiality is the cornerstone of mediation. It is the concept that underpins the whole process. The fact that all discussions are confidential gives everyone involved in the process complete confidence to be open, and honest, and it allows the mediator to explore with each of the parties the fundamentals of their motivations and desires, emotionally and financially.
Confidentiality in mediation is essential to getting to the nub of problems that would never see the light of day in a court setting and in getting to solutions that accommodate and recognise these needs, which standard litigation could never begin to address. 90% of our mediations will find a settlement, but even in the unlikely event that no agreement emerges, everything said in a mediation is “without prejudice” – so it can never be repeated, especially in court.
Voluntary
Since mediation is a voluntary process it is something that both parties must undertake willingly. In fact, there are cost implications if one doesn’t engage with it constructively because courts view mediation so positively for the benefits it brings. So, while mediation isn’t mandatory, it is strongly encouraged and very much the best thing anybody involved in litigation can do.
It is true that most parties will see the advantage that mediation offers, and when they do they will come to it in this voluntary and progressive fashion. The day of mediation allows the antagonism of litigation to be put aside and for the parties to work through areas of their own commercial or emotional self-interest. This is what produces such overwhelmingly positive outcomes, and why there’s so much to gain and so very little to lose for parties when they agree to mediation.
Control
When parties to the mediation are able to put the dry structure of the litigation process aside for the day, then novel and innovative solutions can emerge that defy the confines of the court process.
The confidentiality of the process allows anything to be floated to put together a deal and ideas can be proposed and abandoned without any worry that such a notion might be prejudicial to the case, or used against one in a court setting.
This is when the parties themselves, rather than their lawyers can come to the fore and solutions that get to the heart of their dispute – and the issues and emotions that underlie it, can be addressed and satisfied so that the parties themselves structure their own settlement – and it is one they have fashioned and have been in control of, not something inflexible, imposed by a court.
"When the mediation finished with a settlement, I was so relieved. And I felt so free - for the first time in years!"
We’re here to help. So, simply get in touch with us and we’ll begin working for you right away…
Effectively Facilitate Agreed Solutions
An agreed settlement is a huge benefit to all the parties in a dispute, but it’s difficult to achieve. So having access a completely independent, experienced and impartial “wise head” is invaluable in breaking the deadlock. Such a helpful, neutral facilitator – with objectivity and no preconceptions or bias – will solve around 90% of even the mist seemingly intractable disputes. That relief at putting a dispute behind you is the real advantage of effectively agreed solutions!
Inventive And Appropriate Results
An experienced and skilled mediator will help both the parties to a dispute to think about the real nub of fundamentals and actual self-interest, as opposed to just anger. This often results in inventive solutions that unlock the dispute and present real commercial advantages that simply wouldn’t be thought of, or even available to them in any court-imposed “verdict”. The lifting of the heavy burden of litigation is the reward, from such inventive and appropriate agreements!
Experience Pays, Cost Effectively
Clearly you want know that you’re in safe hands – and GetMediation has some of the UK’s leading accredited civil and commercial mediators at your disposal. They are all fully qualified and experienced, having participated in numerous mediations for both claimants and defendants. This means as well as regain your peace of mind, you’ll also find that the mediation is incredibly cost-effective. You can be free of turmoil, and get on with your life without spending huge amounts of money on arguments. Refreshing!
"I think my client was even happier than I was with the outcome."
We’re here to help. So, simply get in touch with us and we’ll begin working for you right away…
Commercial Mediation Is A Real Growth Market - For Good Reason - Because It Works!
Commercial Mediation Goes From Strength To Strength - Take Advantage. Find Our More...
In the UK, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) do a bi-annual audit of the “state of mediation”, and this is the most considered study available for mediation in the country.
The most recent CEDR mediation audit shows that over 12,000 commercial mediations (in other works higher value cases that exclude small claims) were undertaken in their last survey. This is a huge increase of over 20% on the previous survey of 2016.
The study demonstrates that in the last audited year nearly £12 billion-worth of litigation claims were successfully mediated.
Just as impressively, the survey states that this mediation has saved those businesses over £3 billion in legal fees and wasted time!
The CEDR audit was conducted from a survey of 336 experienced practising mediators alongside the lawyers and barristers who used them for their mediations to give an extra perspective from a “client” point of view. The survey was also conducted in collaboration and with the endorsement of the Civil Mediation Council and in partnership with the International Institute of Conflict Prevention and Resolution adding an international mediation perspective.
The survey revealed some very interesting things, such as:
- That mediation is on the rise and growing in popularity with some really remarkable growth statistics. For example, organised mediation supported by the NHS, by County Court mediation pilots and by the Court of Appeal has shown growth of more than 45% in the past 2 years. Such organised mediation now accounts for around 4,500 cases per annum.
- However, even in the case of ad hoc referrals from the public or by solicitors resulting in individual mediation cases, the use of mediation has still shown double figure growth.
- The survey shows an overall growth rate up by more than 20%.
- That mediation continues to enjoy an outstanding success rate. The aggregate settlement rate reported is 89%. At GetMediation we can report a success rate of over 90% which corroborates this overall picture. Settlement rates were reported by the mediators in the survey but validated by the separate survey taken from solicitors and barristers.
- The lawyers themselves stated that in their opinion over 83% of mediators performed well or very well.
- Mediation fees showed a significant drop of 19.34% to an average of £3,627 from over £4,500 in 2016. This goes to show that as well as maintaining, or increasing, the rate of successful settlements, mediation is proving itself to be even more cost effective for participants.
Graham Massie, Director of CEDR, author of the Audit Report, gave an overview of the great success mediation is having in the UK legal landscape:
“One definition of Disruptive Innovation is: ‘An innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances‘. As the results of this Audit demonstrate, mediation qualifies under virtually every aspect of the definition – the only point it hasn’t hit is ’displacing established market-leading firms‘ but that is because it has over-achieved by changing law firms and lawyers’ behaviours and attitudes.”
So, it is official: Mediation Goes From Strength To Strength!