The Expert Podcast

So how is mediation a valuable tool to resolve a conflict? This is a great podcast from some attorneys that talked about perspectives on reaching settlements. Normally, when you're working on a settlement, you have a lawyer representing you and a lawyer representing the other party. They’re fighting with each other. Each lawyer is an advocate for their client, which is the right thing to do, but they're actively fighting for the other person. That fight escalates to where the dispute doesn't deescalate.

A mediator is a neutral third party. They don't have a dog in the fight; they're not taking sides. What they're doing is looking at what are the common elements in most disputes. There’s actually 70-80% of the things that seem like they're being disputed that are already in agreement. You're not that far apart as most people think. But sometimes the distance apart is magnified because those things are very powerful, very emotional, and sometimes people get like spite or they’re just like on principle, "I'm not going to give in." That third party can help neutralize that and can help dissolve some of those serious conflicts.

They can also point out what the realities are. Look, if you stick to this line of conflict and it goes to litigation, you might lose because that’s not something that might win. Having a third party tell you about the big picture sometimes helps both parties see the scenario without being blinded by rage, spite, or the trauma of the past dispute. How it happened, maybe it’s a lawsuit about a contract that was breached. Both parties are going to have the pain of that breach of contract in their head when they're trying to put together a new contract, which is this agreement.

A neutral third party, a mediator who is truly neutral and not advocating for either party, can really help dissolve a conflict to where both people walk away saving face. You save your honor, you save your pride, but are not bogged down into years of litigation, hundreds of thousands in legal fees, where you still run the risk of losing everything because you have to flip a coin and guess who the judge or jury is going to side with — you or the other side.

Thank you for watching another episode of Actual Human Advisory on Describe TV. Remember, we have live one-on-one consultation appointments available at actualhum.com, where you can book a one-on-one undivided attention live call with a licensed investigator, a licensed insurance broker, a licensed mortgage broker, real estate broker. I’m also a certified real estate title examiner, a certified civil court mediator, along with having developed and started over 15 businesses, several of which were sold for millions of dollars. So if you do have questions in any of those categories, you can arrange a one-on-one live video consultation. Use the link below, and we’ll see you on the next.