Commercial mediation is a process that parties to a dispute can undergo, which is a way of trying to resolve the dispute, where an impartial third party is appointed to behave as a facilitator between them to assist them negotiate a settlement dispute. That independent third party isn’t a judge. They’re not going to make a choice on the proof or tell you who’s right and who’s unsuitable and who wins and who loses. They will help you 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 are at a mediation, you possibly can leave at any time. However 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 continue at increased prices for each parties, or alternatively, have a mediation at an early stage earlier than any litigation has started in an try and keep away from these prices beginning or running away from the parties at a really early stage.

So, it’s a form of different dispute decision, which is an umbrella time period for many methods of making an attempt to resolve disputes without having to interact in court proceedings, and it is becoming more and more prevalent in businesses’ minds after they’re having a dispute.

Fairly than, «Let’s have a big argument and spending a number of costs 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 large 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 have to attend commercial mediation?

Mediation is a voluntary process, but there could be adverse price 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 a particularly good reason why the other party does not need 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 could be disproportionate to the worth of the dispute.

However, that aside, you would have to have a fairly good reason to not, to not mediate. Otherwise, a court may make an adverse costs order against a party who has unreasonably refused to mediate.

So, it is a case really that the court does count on the parties at all times and all levels of a dispute to aim to succeed in a settlement, not necessarily through mediation solely, but the court does anticipate the parties to attempt to attain a settlement. And mediation, as we’ve got already mentioned, is an efficient way of doing that in a well timed and cost-efficient manner.

Is the outcome of commercial mediation legally binding?

The result of mediation would be legally binding in very specific circumstances, and that is once an agreement recording the position reached at mediation in a legally binding document.

So, it’s recorded in writing and signed by those parties to the dispute. Till that has happened, the outcome of a mediation will not be legally binding, and it can be open to either party to the mediation to renege on the agreement or not enter into the agreement or seek to try and change the agreement for every in the course of the course of the mediation, up till the purpose that it is being recorded in writing and signed by the parties. And subsequently, we advise clients who are at mediation and have gone through 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 lengthy, if not longer, as to actually the parties reaching the agreement at mediation themselves.