The Expert Podcast

Anytime there's a conflict between two parties. Mediation is almost always inserted into that. Type of dispute. It could be a lawsuit it could be a divorce it could be a corporate contract. And that mediation process is sometimes required by a court before it can go to trial.

Sometimes it's suggested by counselors or therapists. Sometimes it's evening introduced by attorneys and we've seen it in the news Here's three examples. In large media. Celebrity type conflicts Here is a dispute. with a network where there were two.

news anchors, that they had a dispute over their firing and their termination and they went to a mediation session. Where the parties. determined which ones got settlements and for how much. And one of the parties ended up with a bigger settlement because of mediation So it can be used in high profile celebrity type cases. There's also smaller cases Here's a situation where there's a library that's being sued.

and in that lawsuit, The court is requiring mediation. And it's actually a good thing even for the clients when they hear required sometimes you think like well I don't want to do it if it's required, but what you'll find. is. Many times more than half the time that mediation resolves the conflict So you don't have to go to court. And even though whatever settlement or mediation is completed may have consequences.

It's cheaper than going to court because you don't have to pay legal fees attorney's fees, court costs And more importantly, all of the conversations that have happened within that mediation are confidential. Where at court, when you put evidence in the case you put disclosures in the case you have testimony in the Case it's all public record. So anything that you can imagine would come up in your court case is all going to be out there in the public If it goes to trial in mediation. It's all kept confidential with a couple exceptions for things like crimes or threats or. Our physical,

physical injury to another person. So the mediation has those advantages and more importantly in personal law cases. Like a divorce. If you have a conflict between two people, when you introduce a mediator now you have a neutral third party. A non-biased third party.

That's trying to come up with a solution, even though you might have an attorney, that attorney is advocating for you they're fighting for you which you want them to do the attorney for the other side is fighting for the other side. So even though you have a buffer between you and the other party, you still have two people that are fighting against each other. Maybe not with the same personal feelings as you and the other party have, but there's still that battle happening where a mediator now looks to see…where is there already some common ground where can this be put together, eliminating those personal feelings out from it And. Eliminating the expense of that trial and that cost of going to trial Even if you say I want my day in court you can still have your day to say your piece You can still have your day to say what's on your mind and put it out there. for the other party to hear for your attorney to hear it just doesn't have to go in court where…

it's going to be on record permanently. Right in mediation You still can vent You can still say what. Was on your mind. And have that be used to. To formulate and structure.

The right agreement and fair agreement for you, but you can do it without the downsides of having to pay your attorney three four or $500 an hour, having to go to court. having multiple…

You know events of disclosures maybe financial disclosures, maybe. personal records disclosures where the media. can do that Certainly if the mediation doesn't work you can still go to court It doesn't eliminate your right to do that Plus. You are in control of the mediation You have the final say and whatever the mediation presentation is, it's your choice voluntarily to do that? You can walk away from that mediation say no I don't want to do this And you you're good.

When you go to court when the judge gives their final ruling you can't. Decline that ruling you can't say no I don't want to do that. You have to abide by it. The difference in mediation is you still have the power retain to say Nope I don't want to do this. I want to go to court.

So mediation is your last chance to be controlling your destiny, to make sure that whether you are. An individual in a divorce, whether you're a company that has some dispute let's say with a library or you are a major celebrity with a large scale high profile case, mediation comes in and all those and benefits. All the parties and even benefits the court because the court gets to keep a case out of their clogged up court system. That might be delayed You might be able to do mediation within a few weeks The court might take a year or more So it's also a way to speed up the process and get yourself a resolution and move on with your life.