The Expert Podcast

Mediation can be a wonderful thing. In this case, there are two very high-profile entities: the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) football conference or college conference and also Florida State University, which are at odds with each other about some contract negotiations. As part of that lawsuit, the judge ordered them to do mediation.

A lot of courts require that the parties to a lawsuit do mediation before they go to court. But we are always under the impression that, why not try to do mediation before the judge says so? Because if it's that good, why not do it before you spend tens or hundreds of thousands in legal fees?

A mediator is a great resource. It can bring together a case that otherwise would have to go to court. Because if you go to court at that point, the disposition is out of your hands. It's your last chance to have your own control over the process before you go to court.

Once you go to court, you are at the mercy of the Court. Whatever they decide, you have to live with it. In mediation, you can actually be a participant in what the result is. And whatever the mediator says, a lot of people don't realize this; you don't have to abide by it. If they say, "I think you should do this," you can say, "I don't want to do that" and then still go to court. But at least that mediator is there to try to help you put something together. In a court, the judge isn't trying to help put something together. They're picking a winner, and it's like a flip of a coin. They could pick you as the loser and the other person as the winner.

You might think you have a good case, but the other side thinks so too; that's why they're going to court. In mediation, that mediator is trying for both sides to win and for both sides to get a good result. Look at the option of including that in any dispute before you're forced to by the court because you can save money on legal fees, and in most cases, the result will be better than what you could ever get in court, even if you win.

Not counting the fact that it doesn't have to result in a lot of legal fees. Plus, whatever is said for the most part in mediation is considered private. When you go to court, all the evidence you put out there—all the things that the other side puts out there about you—is public record. So if you're a business and you have private information—product information, customer information—it goes out in court; it's public. In mediation, it's all kept private and confidential unless it's something illegal. And that's another advantage to mediating versus litigating.