Why Mediation

Why Mediation?

If you have ever been involved in litigation, or simply in a prolonged conflict, you know that it can eat up time, money, energy, patience, and even your happiness.

Mediation offers a different way of settling disputes. Why?

· Mediation is less expensive. Many attorneys want a retainer of up to $10,000 just to investigate to see if you have a viable lawsuit. That money comes straight from your pocket. Attorneys charge upwards of $200 an hour, plus expenses. This means that you pay an attorney for all of the time they put in on your case, including making telephone calls, reading papers, questioning witnesses, and so on. In addition, you pay for any expert witnesses called to testify on your behalf. If you lose - you lose it all, and often still have to pay the attorneys and the experts. Mediation, on the other hand, can usually be completed for far less - very few cases cost over $500.

· Mediation is faster. A lawsuit can drag out for years. The average time from filing to trial in this region is over two years, and it is not getting any shorter. Mediating the case to a successful completion can usually be accomplished in a matter of weeks.

· Mediation means you stay in control. Once a case goes to a lawsuit, you lose a great deal of control. Now the attorneys, courts and judges are in charge - they will decide your fate. In mediation you control the outcome, not someone else.

· Mediation is confidential. In Washington State, mediation cases are generally confidential and not open to the public. Likewise, being settlement negotiations, what is said in mediation generally cannot be used against you in court, whereas anything you say during depositions for a lawsuit can be used against you.

· Mediation is easier on the people. The mediators are trained to control the process and keep adversarial arguing and questioning to an absolute minimum. While attorneys are always welcome to advise their clients, they are generally not participants in that they do not question the other parties.

· Mediated settlements work better. A settlement that is worked out in direct communication between the parties with the assistance of mediators is more likely to stand the test of time, as it is not imposed by a third party such as a judge or arbitrator. Thus the disputants themselves create their own settlements in ways that work for them, keeping ownership and control.

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