Commercial mediation is a process that parties to a dispute can undergo, which is a way of attempting to resolve the dispute, where an independent third party is appointed to behave as a facilitator between them to help them negotiate a settlement dispute. That independent third party isn’t a judge. They’re not going to make a decision on the evidence or inform you who’s proper and who’s incorrect and who wins and who loses. They will show you how to see either party’s position and assist them come to a settlement.
The process of commercial mediation
It’s a very voluntary process. You do not need to attend commercial mediation, and when you find yourself at a mediation, you may go away at any time. But it is a superb opportunity to have a commercial dispute case settled without the need for the proceedings to either, if they have already started, proceed and proceed at elevated prices for each parties, or alternatively, have a mediation at an early stage earlier than any litigation has started in an try to keep away from those prices beginning or running away from the parties at a really early stage.
So, it’s a form of alternative dispute resolution, which is an umbrella term for a lot of methods of attempting to resolve disputes without having to engage 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 lots of time in dealing with the dispute”, “How can we get to the top of the dispute in a quicker way and a more price-efficient way?” And commercial mediation is a big part of that and a very good way of reaching that end goal in a a lot more value- and time-efficient manner.
Do I’ve to attend commercial mediation?
Mediation is a voluntary process, but there could be adverse value consequences 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 could be very prudent, unless there’s an extremely good reason why the opposite party does not need to mediate, and people reasons may be that the other party’s case doesn’t have any merit or the worth of the case involved would be such that the costs of mediation, even attending a mediation could be disproportionate to the value of the dispute.
However, that aside, you would have to have a fairly good reason not to, not to mediate. In any other case, a court may make an adverse costs order towards a party who has unreasonably refused to mediate.
So, it is a case really that the court does anticipate the parties at all times and all stages of a dispute to attempt to reach a settlement, not necessarily through mediation completely, however the court does anticipate the parties to attempt to reach a settlement. And mediation, as we now have already discussed, is an effective way of doing that in a timely and cost-effective manner.
Is the end result of commercial mediation legally binding?
The outcome of mediation would be legally binding in very specific circumstances, and that’s once 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. Until that has happened, the outcome 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 attempt to change the agreement for each during the course of the mediation, up until the purpose that it is being recorded in writing and signed by the parties. And due to this fact, we advise clients 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 actually the parties reaching the agreement at mediation themselves.