Commercial mediation is a process that parties to a dispute can go through, which is a way of making an attempt to resolve the dispute, where an unbiased third party is appointed to act as a facilitator between them to help them negotiate a settlement dispute. That unbiased third party isn’t a judge. They’re not going to make a decision on the evidence or let you know who’s proper and who’s flawed and who wins and who loses. They will assist you see either party’s position and help them come to a settlement.
The process of commercial mediation
It’s a completely voluntary process. You would not have to attend commercial mediation, and when you find yourself at a mediation, you’ll be able to go away at any time. But it is a superb opportunity to have a commercial dispute case settled without the necessity for the proceedings to either, if they’ve already started, proceed and proceed at elevated costs for each parties, or alternatively, have a mediation at an early stage earlier than any litigation has started in an attempt to avoid those prices starting or running away from the parties at a very early stage.
So, it’s a form of alternative dispute decision, which is an umbrella time period for many methods of trying to resolve disputes without having to interact in court proceedings, and it is becoming more and more prevalent in companies’ minds after they’re having a dispute.
Slightly than, “Let’s have a big argument and spending a lot of prices and plenty of time in dealing with the dispute”, “How can we get to the tip of the dispute in a quicker way and a more cost-efficient way?” And commercial mediation is a big part of that and a great way of reaching that finish goal in a much more cost- and time-environment friendly manner.
Do I have to attend commercial mediation?
Mediation is a voluntary process, but there might be adverse value penalties in litigation if a court believes that a party has unreasonably refused to mediate.
So, if one party to a dispute makes a suggestion of mediation, it can be very prudent, unless there’s an especially good reason why the opposite party doesn’t wish to mediate, and those reasons could also be that the other party’s case doesn’t have any merit or the worth of the case concerned would be such that the prices of mediation, even attending a mediation can be disproportionate to the worth of the dispute.
But, that aside, you would have to have a fairly good reason not to, to not mediate. Otherwise, a court could make an adverse prices order towards a party who has unreasonably refused to mediate.
So, it is a case really that the court does anticipate the parties always and all phases of a dispute to aim to achieve a settlement, not essentially by mediation completely, however the court does expect the parties to attempt to reach a settlement. And mediation, as we’ve got already discussed, is a good way of doing that in a well timed and cost-effective manner.
Is the outcome of commercial mediation legally binding?
The end result of mediation can be legally binding in very specific circumstances, and that’s as soon as an agreement recording the position reached at mediation in a legally binding document.
So, it’s recorded in writing and signed by these parties to the dispute. Till that has happened, the end result of a mediation will not be legally binding, and it would be open to either party to the mediation to renege on the agreement or not enter into the agreement or seek to try to change the agreement for every throughout the course of the mediation, up till the point that it is being recorded in writing and signed by the parties. And therefore, we advise shoppers who are at mediation and have gone by means of the process of reaching a settlement at mediation to attempt their utmost to get that agreement signed on the day of the mediation. And typically, the recording of the agreement can take just as long, if not longer, as to really the parties reaching the agreement at mediation themselves.