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MEDIATION SERVICES AS AN ECONOMICAL ALTERNATIVE TO A LAWSUIT

Lawsuits typically take a long time to resolve, almost always more than a year and usually much longer than that. They are often expensive, they can take up considerable time from those involved in the lawsuit, and they can be emotionally draining. In disputes over relatively small amounts of money or disputes in which a remedy other than money is sought, a lawsuit may not be affordable for anyone involved in the dispute and if a lawsuit is filed everyone involved in the lawsuit may end up a “loser” except for the attorneys who are paid hourly.

There are alternatives to a lawsuit, namely arbitration and mediation. Click on Process of a lawsuit and scroll down to “Alternative Dispute Resolution” to learn about arbitration and mediation.

If you are reasonable, open-minded, and receptive to fair compromise, mediation may be preferable to filing a lawsuit. Even if the other side to your dispute appears stubborn and unwilling to compromise and you think he or she would be unwilling to submit to mediation or unwilling to compromise at mediation, suggesting mediation may still appeal to the other side’s sensibilities. Mediation generally takes just a few hours--a day or more in large, more complex cases—and thus has the advantage of possibly resolving a dispute at a cost of only several hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars for the mediator’s fees which are divided among the parties to the dispute. If communications are so strained that the parties to a dispute cannot even carry on a civil conversation, mediation can be suggested in a polite letter, perhaps enclosing this article or another article about mediation.

If you are interested in mediation, you may contact Mitch Wagner concerning the cost and for more information. However, any such conversation will have to be limited to the general nature of the dispute and avoid a discussion of the details, to avoid bias and pre-judging the dispute.