Mediate those legal wrangles – and end those sleepless nights!

You may have been unfortunate enough to be involved in a long running court battle arising from a breach of contract, unpaid business debt, or some other commercial dispute.

You know the score – the other side pulled a fast one and a fairly simple disagreement became mired in litigation, with legal costs spiralling.

At the end of it all, you perhaps felt it had been nothing more than an expensive, white-knuckle ride through the English court system where the only winners were the lawyers.

If your view is as jaundiced as that, read on – for help is definitely at hand. Over the past five years or so, the courts and judges, particularly in Plymouth and Exeter, have increasingly made it clear that parties in disputes are expected to pull out all stops to resolve their cases quickly and cheaply. This has led to more and more cases being successfully settled through Mediation.

As recently as April 2006, the Civil Procedure Rules highlighted the importance of Mediation by amending the rules. They ask the disputing parties to consider whether they should settle their dispute by Mediation rather than through the Courts before they even issue proceedings.

Now, people who rush blindly into court proceedings without considering Mediation could be made to pay a lot of money in costs, if a judge finds they have acted unreasonably.

Mediation is not a sign of weakness. Often, quite the opposite is true. It may be a fatal weakness to blankly refuse to mediate a claim, and unreasonably adopting a ‘no surrender’ approach is likely to irritate the court, which in turn will be costly.

Even if you push through to trial, a judge will still have to find a fair and proper resolution to the dispute. A party that has steadfastly refused to mediate could be ordered to pay the other side’s substantial litigation costs.

So what is Mediation, exactly?

An independent, trained “Mediator” helps the parties to reach a cost-effective settlement, acceptable to them all. A date and venue are fixed, and the Mediator is usually given a summary of the disputed issues beforehand, so he can decide the best way to find a settlement. Often the parties prefer to be in separate rooms, with their legal or other advisers, while the Mediator shuttles between the two sides, trying to find the middle ground for a settlement. The process has been known to resolve multi-million pound cases, and is far cheaper than court proceedings.

Foot Anstey have been involved in a large number of cases that have been successfully mediated including claims relating to building works, holidays, cars, computers, partnership disputes, commercial disputes and injury claims.

No case is unsuitable for Mediation and if you have a good Mediator, the case will be settled quickly, saving a huge amount in legal fees as well as saving you months, if not years, of sleepless nights!