The Expert Podcast

The question comes up quite a bit: can you use mediation for a small claims lawsuit? Many times, mediations are thought of as something that happens with very large commercial disputes or litigation or even divorce cases. Mediation can actually be used in a small claims case. In fact, some courts in the country require that mediation is performed prior to actually going to court for a small claims case.

Why is that? Well, many times a small claims case has more potential for being resolved with mediation. Think of the word "small claims court." It's something that's smaller than a typical litigation. If you have a $10 million lawsuit, litigation is more likely to involve conflicts and details that are much more complicated. A mediation might not work if it's very, very complicated. With a small claims lawsuit, the case is usually pretty simple. You know, somebody damages somebody else's lawnmower, or it's a car crash, or somebody didn't pay a debt. The facts of a case are pretty straightforward.

In fact, think about all the TV court case shows that are on. Judge Judy, Judge Wapner, and all these TV shows. They do a court case in 11 minutes, right? These are relatively simple cases. A mediator is not the same as a judge. A mediator is not an attorney. However, they can normally point out to both parties where they already agree on most of the case. There might only be one small part of the case that's really still at issue. If you can take an $8,000 or $10,000 dispute and show agreement on 90 percent of it, and really only boil down to about an $800 remaining conflict, many times there could be a resolution created for that small conflict that can keep the parties out of court.

Why do you want to stay out of court? Once you go to court, you are no longer in control of your destiny. The judge is the judge. The judge tells you what to do. With mediation, the mediator can tell you whatever their opinion is, but you don't have to abide by it. You can just tell them to pound sand, and you can still go to court if you want. But at least you're in control of your destiny, and you can find a possible solution without having to take time off, go to court, pay an attorney, or pay court fees.

A mediation can help resolve most small claims cases. Even if you are the only party that's interested in mediation, you may be able to use a mediator to help resolve a case if the other party doesn't even want to agree to mediation. So yes, you can use mediation for a small claims lawsuit. In many cases, it can be more successful than in a larger, more complicated legal dispute. And remember, a mediator can't give you legal advice—we're not attorneys—but we can help guide the process to resolve a dispute, conflict, or even a disagreement between two parties before it gets to court, where again, you're not in control of your destiny and are putting yourself at the mercy of a judge who may or may not agree with all of your arguments.