Commercial mediation is a process that parties to a dispute can undergo, which is a way of attempting to resolve the dispute, where an impartial third party is appointed to act as a facilitator between them to assist them negotiate a settlement dispute. That impartial third party isn’t a judge. They’re not going to make a decision on the evidence or tell you who’s right and who’s unsuitable and who wins and who loses. They will provide help to see either party’s position and help them come to a settlement.

The process of commercial mediation

It’s a very voluntary process. You do not have to attend commercial mediation, and if you find yourself at a mediation, you may depart at any time. But it is a great opportunity to have a commercial dispute case settled without the necessity for the proceedings to either, if they have already started, proceed and proceed at elevated costs for each parties, or alternatively, have a mediation at an early stage before any litigation has started in an try to keep away from these prices starting or running away from the parties at a very early stage.

So, it’s a form of different dispute resolution, which is an umbrella term for many methods of trying to resolve disputes without having to engage in court proceedings, and it is becoming more and more prevalent in businesses’ minds once they’re having a dispute.

Reasonably than, «Let’s have a big argument and spending plenty of costs and many time in dealing with the dispute», «How can we get to the end of the dispute in a quicker way and a more price-effective way?» And commercial mediation is a large part of that and a good way of reaching that end goal in a much more cost- and time-environment friendly manner.

Do I’ve to attend commercial mediation?

Mediation is a voluntary process, however there may 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 would be very prudent, unless there’s an extremely good reason why the other party doesn’t wish to mediate, and those reasons may be that the other party’s case doesn’t have any merit or the worth of the case concerned could be such that the costs of mediation, even attending a mediation can 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. Otherwise, a court might 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 stages of a dispute to attempt to achieve a settlement, not essentially by means of mediation exclusively, however the court does anticipate the parties to try and reach a settlement. And mediation, as we’ve already discussed, is an efficient way of doing that in a well timed and value-effective manner.

Is the result of commercial mediation legally binding?

The end result of mediation can be legally binding in very particular 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 those parties to the dispute. Till that has occurred, the outcome of a mediation will not be legally binding, and it could 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 until the purpose that it is being recorded in writing and signed by the parties. And therefore, we advise clients who’re at mediation and have gone by the process of reaching a settlement at mediation to attempt their utmost to get that agreement signed on the day of the mediation. And sometimes, the recording of the agreement can take just as long, if not longer, as to truly the parties reaching the agreement at mediation themselves.