Commercial mediation is a process that parties to a dispute can undergo, which is a way of making an attempt to resolve the dispute, where an impartial third party is appointed to act as a facilitator between them to help them negotiate a settlement dispute. That impartial third party isn’t a judge. They’re not going to make a call on the evidence or tell you who’s right and who’s improper 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 totally voluntary process. You wouldn’t have to attend commercial mediation, and when you are at a mediation, you can 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 have already started, proceed and continue at increased costs for each parties, or alternatively, have a mediation at an early stage before any litigation has started in an try to avoid those costs beginning or running away from the parties at a very early stage.

So, it’s a form of other dispute decision, which is an umbrella term for a lot of methods of making an attempt to resolve disputes without having to interact in court proceedings, and it is turning into more and more prevalent in businesses’ minds after they’re having a dispute.

Slightly than, «Let’s have a big argument and spending numerous costs and many 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 very good way of reaching that finish goal in a a lot more cost- and time-environment friendly manner.

Do I’ve to attend commercial mediation?

Mediation is a voluntary process, however there may be adverse price 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 would be very prudent, unless there’s an especially good reason why the opposite party does not wish to mediate, and those reasons could also be that the opposite party’s case doesn’t have any merit or the worth of the case involved can be such that the costs of mediation, even attending a mediation can be disproportionate to the value of the dispute.

But, that aside, you would have to have a reasonably good reason not to, not to mediate. In any other case, a court may make an adverse prices 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 aim to achieve a settlement, not necessarily through mediation completely, but the court does count on the parties to attempt to reach a settlement. And mediation, as we now have already mentioned, is an effective way of doing that in a well timed and value-efficient manner.

Is the end result of commercial mediation legally binding?

The result of mediation can 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 these parties to the dispute. Until 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 and change the agreement for every in the course of the course of the mediation, up until the point that it is being recorded in writing and signed by the parties. And due to this fact, we advise shoppers who’re at mediation and have gone through the process of reaching a settlement at mediation to strive 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.