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.
I’ll mention it once and move on. It’s the jubilee. Some will enjoy the spectacle and the celebration of the queen’s long reign, many will wonder at the expense of it all when fuel and food poverty is forcing people to choose between eating and heating, when kids are going hungry are turning up to school tired as they are in bed poverty and the cuts for taxes only get given to the richest. But yeah some will enjoy it.
Knowing how and where to spend funds is difficult but it is obvious sometimes when it is a waste, choosing how to spend money wisely is the mark of maturity (though I’m not against the odd frivolous purchase of a waistcoat) so if your funds are limited and you have a legal issue think about spending money on mediation rather than expensive litigation.
What’s the difference, well litigation even if not full on in court is a negotiation with two sides, this article explains how with mediation one neutral party (that would be me) works between two opposed parties helping them reach a position which negotiation probably wouldn’t have achieved.
With negotiation you don’t get an independent party helping you examine your case and your opponents and with mediaitons in particular you also get to consider the reality of how much the dispute is costing you, your family and friends, in time money and stress. You can put a figure on each of these elements, it’s your choice to continue the fight or find a workable solution with which you can live. “Not walking away happy but happy to walk away” Ken Feinberg.
And in another article this week a look at the different ways different mediation techniques. One of these is described as the mediator offering opinion, can I just say that’s trained out of you in mediation in the UK for the very reason stated in the article it is not helpful, it doesn’t matter what the mediator thinks or their opinion of your actions, motives or decisions.
Participant engagement and solution creation is far better (as also reported here) as that is the key to the success of mediation it’s your deal, your agreement, and your problem if it doesn’t go away! Interesting that reflection is seen as useful short term (ie in mediation) but has low impact in the long term, that I suppose could change if the technique rather than the use of reflection were taught in the mediation but it’s not really the job of the mediator to train parties in future strategies.
I also have an issue with the term “caucus overuse”, use of caucus or shuttle mediation is a regular and useful manner of mediation, the fact here it is posed as “overuse” is negatively weights the question and is bound to suggest a negative outcome, caucus use has had only positive effects in my practice, the only drawback is occasionally parties cannot see that both get just as “hard a time” as the other as both are challenged in the same way often with the same theoretical circumstances.
Finally saving money and time and stress in the medical industry. In Taiwan a new law has been passed to ensure that medical disputes go to mediation as a primary stage before litigation. The bill will ensure medical records are produced before litigation for the very purpose of mediation.
Local governments will be required to set up panels of mediators with a mixed make up of male and females and with at least one third being non-medical professionals. It’s a bold and sensible move that needs to be more readily implemented elsewhere.
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 07931318347 or via email at ed.johnson@northwestmediation.co.uk
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