The Mediation Process
Mediation involves a hard day of negotiation but over 75 per cent of mediations reach an agreed resolution and 100% of our clients have said that they would use mediation again and recommend it to others. The stages of a mediation are reasonably flexible and provide you with control over what will happen.
Pre-mediation meeting: for anyone who has not used mediation before. The meeting lasts about 2 hours, is confidential, conducted by one of our mediators and will provide you with the answers to any questions you have, so that you can come to an informed decision about whether mediation might work for you and how to prepare to get the best from the process.
"My client came out of the pre-mediation meeting feeling extremely reassured about the process and the way in which things would proceed. As she knew what to expect, she was more relaxed as a result."
Choice of Mediators: The mediators on our panel have direct experience, often in senior positions, in over 60 commercial, professional, legal, voluntary and public sectors. As we always provide two mediators at no extra cost, you may choose one with experience in an area relevant to the dispute. This also provides the opportunity to have one of the female members of our panel present if the parties feel this would help.
"They let the parties get on with it and only intervened when absolutely necessary. They were positive, objective and conciliatory, and let the parties maintain control, which was crucial"
Mediation Length: normally we schedule a whole day for the mediation to allow the momentum built up in the early stages to carry through towards a settlement. However there are occasions where two or more sessions or half days are more appropriate due to diaries or where everyone agrees this would provide a more realistic chance of a successful outcome.
People Present: normally at both the pre-mediation meeting and at the mediation, the people attending would be those from each side with authority to reach an agreement, together with their advisors.
Mediation Fees: These documents will give you more details about possible mediation structures and fees:
- Mediation Fees - Value Based for disputes where there is a clear claim value or
- Mediation Fees - Time Based for disputes involving a number of parties or where there is no clear value in the dispute.