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 a mediation Why is that? Well think of the word small claims court. It's something that's smaller than atypical litigation. If you have a $10 million lawsuit litigation, it's more likely. That the. Conflicts in that case the details of that case are much more complicated. mediation. Might not work if it's very very complicated with a small claims lawsuit. The case is usually pretty simple. You know, somebody damaged 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 of the…TV. Court case shows that are on there. Judge Judy. Judge whopped there 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. And if you can take. An 8,000 or $10,000 dispute. And…show agreement on 90% of it and really only boiled down to about an $800, you know, Remaining conflict many times. There could be a resolute. Created for that small conflict that can keep the parties out of court. Why do you want to stay out of court Well, once you go to court, you are no longer in control of your destiny The judge is, 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 paying attorney. maybe 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 mediate mediator Can't give you legal advice We're not attorneys, but we can help guide the process to resolve a dispute or conflict or even a disagreement between two parties before it gets to court. Where again, you're not in control of your destiny And now you're putting yourself at the mercy of a judge who may or may not agree with all of your arguments.