Mediation

Mediation is one of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes where the involved parties have a meeting facilitated by a mediator to resolve your legal matters without going to court.

Mediation is a voluntary process. Unlike traditional litigation (trial) or an arbitration where a judge or an arbitrator makes a decision (and hence takes away decision making power from the parties), mediation allows the parties to take initiative to negotiate and reach a resolution on their own. Therefore, the outcome from mediation is often more mutually satisfying than that from a litigation.

Participating in mediation is significantly less stressful than going through litigation or even arbitration. That is because litigation involves many adversarial steps such as Questioning (also known as Discovery or Examination) and trial where what the party said can be used against them and often results in a win-lose outcome made by a third party. The fact that a third party is making a decision is the same for arbitration. Mediation, in contrast, is carried out in a safe environment because the parties agree to keep exchanged information out of the court (“without prejudice”). In addition, the goal of mediation is to reach a win-win solution by the parties.

A mediator should be trained to stay neutral and promote candid discussion so that the parties can deepen each other’s understanding. A mediator will not provide solutions or weigh in on a particular resolution over other idea. Nonetheless, it is definitely beneficial to choose a lawyer who has a deep understanding of the subject matter as your mediator. While a mediator cannot provide a legal opinion (e.g. “You should/ should not do this because it is beneficial/ detrimental for you”), they can provide valuable legal information (e.g. “the law says…” “if you two go to the Court, the likely outcome is…”) as the parties negotiate.

Anybody could call themselves as a mediator. However, the BARR LLP mediation team is committed to solidifying their skills by going through rigorous mediation training from well-recognized organizations before qualifying as mediators.