With the continued backlog of cases mediation is even more so now than ever the best choice to find a resolution for your dispute. Get your dispute resolved now while you can’t go anywhere you can really concentrate on what’s important and what deserves your time and energy.
Northwest Mediation continues to use Zoom, Skype and FaceTime as well as the phone and emails to resolve disputes should we add we also do live in person mediation too! So please do not feel that you cannot contact us if you would like to mediate but wish to do so remotely.
It’s definitely spring around Northwest Mediation, the final blossom is just about to fall leaving the trees in their bright fresh cloaks of green (may have been reading a bit too much Tennyson/Sebastian Scattergood) but the feeling of a fresh new year is finally here after months of drizzle. It’s springtime for….no wait I’m straying into criticising HMGov if I go down that route…back to work.
A client told me the feeling of having reached settlement after a three year battle (via mediation of course) had that seem spring feeling, being able to finally put down the burden they’d been dragging around for years and move on.
It’s a feeling I ask clients to imagine pretty regularly, along with imagining what sitting or standing in court being cross examined might be like in contrast. Would they rather wake up tomorrow knowing that even if they didn’t get absolutely every last penny they wanted they were able to get rid of the chains which had been holding them back. It is hard to see when you’re in it (much like depression from my less than clear memory of my own difficulties) but when you’re out the other side and look back you will find yourself pleased that you got out and amazed you didn’t do it sooner. Contact me now use the phrase “do you discount for reading your blog” and I’ll even think about knocking 10% off your fee.
So who’s looking to move on with a spring in their step this week?
An Ozzie article about the best time to bring in a family mediator but not just for those people whose marriages are at an end and want to be as amicable as possible (and to be honest even if you don’t want to be amicable it’s a lot quicker, cheaper and less stressful to settle things using mediation than it is to fight it out at court).
This article falls into one of my specialist areas, elder care/inheritance dealing with who looks after mum/dad when their partner dies, how do the kids sort out the division of care, deciding on a home (or home care), lots of arguments abound in these types of cases, often with underlying guilt from the distant children to resentment from those who live close (no names) and others who want the best care and don’t worry about mum leaving them anything and yet others who want the cheapest possible place to make sure they (or they will say the grandkids) get an inheritance.
The answer to when is the earlier the better, once you know you are kin conflict talking is the way forward and having a mediator there is the best way to be heard and to be able to hear the opposing views and for everyone to feel respected.
I miss being in the EU, I will until either we re-join or we make some sort of fudge of relations, Brexit ended our involvement in so many areas where the EU was a partner (whether university access or just jobs) but particularly in our industry the EU United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) partnership which has just been renewed.
The project supports local leadership and local mediations for conflict resolution, it’s difficult to stress how important mediation is in conflict resolution, from Ireland to Africa, from Asia to South America and all points in between.
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director Asako Okai of the UNDP Crisis Bureau stated “Increasingly, conflicts are compounded by multi-dimensional drivers such as weak governance, intercommunal tension and polarization, climate change, and endemic gender inequality. Locally-led, inclusive and people-centred prevention and peacebuilding efforts can empower communities who have the most to gain from social cohesion and sustaining peace”
The project uses insider mediators (local know how being critical) who “derive their legitimacy, credibility and influence from a socio-cultural and/or religious – and, indeed, personal – closeness to the parties of the conflict, endowing them with strong bonds of trust that help foster the necessary attitudinal changes amongst key protagonists which, over time, prevent conflict and contribute to sustaining peace”
The statements also reinforce the fact of the UN and EU being founded on principles of peace in order to sustain growth and well being of the world’s communities.
In India it’s the police who are forming mediation teams to deal with family disputes. (Apologies couldn't resist the "police fight" picture search result).
So much of officers’ time is being taken up dealing with domestic quarrels it’s been deemed appropriate to have a team of civilian and police officers deal with problems as mediators to alleviate stresses down the station!
If you want to find that spring in your step give me a call and talk to me about your dispute, always happy to listen and see how I can help.
The three pillars of mediation remain it’s voluntary, it’s confidential, the mediator is independent, by using those pillars to support your work the parties keep control, save costs, save time and energy and reduce stress. Finally this one is mediation, mediator jointly appointed, areas of discussion agreed and intention to be bound by the outcome.
In person or via electronic media as we’ve said before choose to mediate early and resolve your issues effectively, timeously, and with less stress and costs than going to your solicitor so you can get out choose a different path, not quite the road less travelled but perhaps the path less adversarial. You have an interest in the outcome the sooner you get round the mediation table the quicker you can move forward and avoid the grilling a cross examination in court would put you through.
By having a deep and meaningful discussions with parties the mediator elicits what the true “red-lines” are and where there is the potential for compromise, it is with this structured period of reflection that the parties are then able to reach an accord.
The flexible nature of mediation and the possible outcomes make it an ideal way to resolve disputes in an ever-changing world and the open nature of discussions in mediation whilst remaining confidential allows all sides to engage fully in the process and understand the needs of all involved allowing parties to reach a conclusion which both sides can live with and move on.
There are so many situations which could have been resolved by early intervention of mediation it continues to surprise me the lengths the public will go to avoid referral.
Whether you need a mediator to help out with a construction matter in the Northwest, or council’s plans in Cheshire, a civil mediator in London, a commercial mediator in Manchester, a dispute resolution for your family in Liverpool, a neighbourhood mediation in Stockport, then our mediators at Northwest Mediation can help.
Mediation is cheaper, quicker and less stressful than running any case to court, it can help with any dispute whether it's an employment issue or the sale at an under value of a property, a fight with a neighbour, family issues, commercial disputes, civil mediation or inheritance, wills and probate arguments contact me at Northwest Mediation on 0161 667 4418 or via email at ed.johnson@northwestmediation.co.uk
neighbour mediation; commercial dispute resolution; civil mediation; commercial dispute; corporate dispute; commercial mediator; family mediation; inheritance wills probate mediation; property mediator; civil mediator; civil litigation; fast track mediation; injury mediation
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