Commercial mediation is a process that parties to a dispute can undergo, which is a way of attempting to resolve the dispute, the place an unbiased 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 proof or inform you who’s proper and who’s unsuitable and who wins and who loses. They will assist you to see either party’s position and help them come to a settlement.

The process of commercial mediation

It’s a completely voluntary process. You should not have to attend commercial mediation, and if you end up at a mediation, you may leave at any time. But it is a good opportunity to have a commercial dispute case settled without the need for the proceedings to either, if they have already started, continue and proceed at elevated costs for both parties, or alternatively, have a mediation at an early stage before any litigation has started in an try and 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 decision, which is an umbrella term for many methods of making an attempt 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 costs and lots 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-effective way?» And commercial mediation is a big part of that and an excellent way of reaching that end goal in a much more price- and time-environment friendly manner.

Do I’ve to attend commercial mediation?

Mediation is a voluntary process, however there might be adverse cost 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 can be very prudent, unless there’s an extremely good reason why the other party doesn’t need to mediate, and those reasons may be that the opposite party’s case doesn’t have any merit or the worth of the case involved can be such that the prices of mediation, even attending a mediation can be disproportionate to the value of the dispute.

However, that aside, you would need to have a fairly good reason to not, to not mediate. Otherwise, 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 count on the parties at all times and all phases of a dispute to try to succeed in a settlement, not essentially by way of mediation completely, but the court does expect the parties to attempt to attain a settlement. And mediation, as we have already mentioned, is an effective way of doing that in a timely and value-effective manner.

Is the result of commercial mediation legally binding?

The result of mediation would be legally binding in very specific circumstances, and that is 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 result 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 to change the agreement for each throughout the course of the mediation, up till the point that it is being recorded in writing and signed by the parties. And due to this fact, we advise purchasers who’re at mediation and have gone by means of the process of reaching a settlement at mediation to try their utmost to get that agreement signed on the day of the mediation. And generally, the recording of the agreement can take just as long, if not longer, as to truly the parties reaching the agreement at mediation themselves.