BUSINESS MEDIATION PAGE

What are the advantages of Business Mediation?

How does Business Mediation work?

What if the Business Mediation does not work?

How is Business Mediation different from litigation?

How is Business Mediation different from arbitration?

Is Business Mediation ever binding?

If my problem were capable of being resolved by Business Mediation, why would I need you?

If you want further infomation please contact us.

What is the purpose of mediation?

Business Mediation offers mature parties with an interest in resolution an opportunity to air their mutual grievances, set them aside, and arrive at a harmonious resolution that is reasonably acceptable to all parties. While usually no party gets everything he or she seeks, all parties get something acceptable.

The process also makes it more likely that the parties will be able to have an amicable ongoing relationship because they′ve worked out their differences as adults solving a mutual problem and knowing that, if future problems arise, they have a method to resolve them. This is especially important, for example, when business people resolve a dispute through Business Mediation, they are able to have a future relationship. A litigated or arbitrated resolution, while ending the immediate dispute, leaves the parties searching for replacement providers or purchasers.

What are the advantages of Business Mediation?

The purpose of all businesses is to make and retain as much money as possible. When a dispute arises, there are several goals: to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible, for the least amount of money possible. The financial losses of a law suit are not only the actual costs and legal fees, but the person hours involved in preparing and defending a cause of action, the emotional turmoil which can detract form productive working hours, the possibility of bad publicity effecting future revenue, and, of course, the potential loss of a happy employee, customer, or vendor.

In Business Mediation, all parties work together to reach a mutually beneficial outcome. The process involves fewer people, fewer person hours, and less drama than other, more traditional, systems. Plus, it allows the possibility for all parties to leave with a positive opinion of each other.

How does Business Mediation work?

A disinterested, preferably knowledgeable and trained, third party, listens to the parties′ individual understanding of the facts, and then works with all parties to help them find a solution they all find tolerable.

A mediator may be able to provide information that the parties would not otherwise have. Examples of such information might be insight into how a court of law might tend to rule on a given question; the relative merits of a party′s position; or how the facts seem to an outside observer.

What if the Business Mediation does not work?

Business Mediation does not exclude opportunities for parties to pursue subsequent arbitration or litigation. If all of the issues are resolved by means of a mediator, the matter does need to go any further. If, however, there are some or all issues unresolved at the end of a Business Mediation cycle, the parties are still free to pursue their other legal remedies. Business Mediation usually helps parties to at least define their points of contention, giving any subsequent arbitration or litigation clearer parameters, and thus saving the parties time and money.

How is Business Mediation different from litigation?

Litigation is the legal system′s way of involving the judicial system in a dispute between two or more individuals. Litigation follows a set pattern of rules in which certain parties are plaintiffs and others are defendants. The plaintiffs and defendants are usually represented by attorneys. Attorneys communicate with each other and the court, but do not interact directly with the other parties.

Business Mediation does not involve the courts. The parties speak directly with each other and the mediator.

The litigation process begins with "discovery" in which each side submits questions and requests to determine as much information as possible about the other side. There is also a series of pleadings before the court, in which judges decide various preliminary matters about preparing for trial. And finally, the litigants go to trial.

All information exchanged in Business Mediation is exchanged voluntarily, and the rules are decided among the parties and mediator as the process unfolds.

After trial, a judge or jury returns a ruling. The judge or jury usually finds that one side was wrong (and the other side was right), and makes any monetary or other rulings based on this right-or-wrong determination.

In a mediated settlement, both parties tend to accept their fair share of the blame for any dispute. This allows both parties to leave the interaction with an agreement they shared in creating rather than having one imposed upon them and they are thus more likely to live up to it because they "own" it.

How is Business Mediation different from arbitration?

Arbitration may either be binding or non-binding. The parties determine in advance whether they will abide by the determination of the arbitrator. Sometimes this decision is made long before a matter is ever in dispute, for example, as a clause in a contract.

Business Mediation is always voluntary and non-binding. If the parties do not reach an agreement, the mediator has no authority to impose a solution.

In an arbitration proceeding, both parties (who may or may not choose to be represented by counsel), present their cases to an arbitrator. The arbitrator has wider latitude than a judge as to the type and amount of evidence she or he may hear. After hearing the evidence, the arbitrator renders a decision as to which party was right and what, if any, damages should be awarded. If the arbitration is binding, the matter is over. If it is non-binding, either party may choose to then begin litigation.

The arbitrator rarely helps the parties reach a compromise. The arbitrator merely listens to both sides and makes a decision. A mediator will often suggest compromises or new proposals that the parties have not considered. Further, a mediator is free to meet privately with either party and help them understand the pros and cons of their positions, helping them proceed to a compromise. An arbitrator′s role is not to help reach a compromise but to determine the result — always to the dismay of one side and often to all sides.

In Business Mediation, it is the parties themselves, and not a fact-finder, who determine the outcome of the matter.

Is Business Mediation ever binding?

After the parties reach a mediated resolution, they may wish to enter an agreement amongst themselves memorializing the conditions of the resolution. By signing such an agreement, the parties bind themselves to each other. If the parties want a more substantial bond, they can enter a matter in court with the intention of submitting the agreement as the final resolution of the court matter. A Judge may thereby make the agreement an order of the court. Anyone who subsequently violates the agreement would be subject not only to a breach of contract claim, but also to the stricter penalties of disobeying a court order. These penalties include contempt and may involve fines or jail time.

If my problem were capable of being resolved by Business Mediation, why would I need you?

The old adage "person who represents himself has a fool for a client" is true primarily because we humans are rarely capable of seeing our own situations from an objective perspective. While you may have honestly tried to resolve a dispute yourselves among the parties, no party can accurately be said to have an unbiased perspective for what a reasonable outcome may be.

By using a disinterested party to mediate the dispute, you each have the opportunity to hear the relative strengths and weaknesses of your position the way a judge or jury might hear them. By using a trained attorney to mediate your dispute, you have the added benefit of knowing which facts would or would not be admissible in a court of law.

Gary Oberst has been specially trained as an attorney mediator, but his 30 plus years as a family man and business owner before becoming a lawyer also give him the insight necessary to see the realities - not just the legalities - of a dispute.