LEGAL PROCESS

Legal Process

Legal Process

Introduction

Mediation is a process by which a neutral third party called a Mediator hears a dispute between two or more parties and attempts to help the parties settle their dispute without judging the merits of the case."The mediator is selected by agreement between the parties. A mediators can be lawyer, retired judge, highly trained mediator or other professional, who work full or part time in the specialized field of mediation.

A mediator is a neutral party, who has no personal interest in the outcome of the dispute. He is assisting the parties in their negotiation, help to identify any issues, barriers to settlement, help them to reach their own decision based on their own individual sence of fairness.

Discussion

The high costs, including substantially increased court fees, the long delays, often cause by layers, associated with the trials of civil matters often make litigation an impractical method of resolving disputes. It is not uncommon that trials related costs exceed the amount in dispute, that the parties are spending more to litigate than the cost to settle the matter.

"Traditional litigation is a mistake that must be corrected... For some disputes trials will be the only means, but for many claims trials by adversarial contest must in time go the way of the ancient trial by battle and blood. Our system is too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for really civilized people." (Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, (Ret.) U.S. Supreme Court).

Mediator has no power to make the decision for the parties or any influence on the decision made. Mediator does not reach the solution, parties do, with help of the mediator. There is no jury in mediation, so choosing the right and experienced mediator is very important. Mediation is entirely voluntary and non-binding. Parties can leave any time for any ...