Eskhill & Co | Green House at Eskhill | 15A Inveresk Village |
Musselburgh EH21 7TD | Tel: 07774 127809 or 07831 605858
Why Mediate?
Put quite simply the answer is that mediation works. It works in resolving
workplace, employment or boardroom disputes, consumer complaints,
commercial disagreements, or construction, property and farming issues -
see more in typical mediations. It provides a setting in which parties get to
understand better and be understood better. Then, with the help of the
mediator, they work together to explore options for resolution. It is an
interest centred and party responsive way to resolve disputes. A settlement
in mediation is the parties' determination, and not that of a third party,
which results in higher rates of compliance in mediation than, for example,
in court actions.
Benefits of Mediation
The benefits of mediation will be different for different disputes but the
following are some that are typically associated with mediation:
Mediation is less costly than taking a dispute through litigation and
compared with most formal processes from workplace to the courts
it can save time and legal costs.
A mediation can usually be arranged and completed within a month
whereas most formal processes such as court, arbitration and
tribunals can take many months or even years.
The proceedings of mediation are confidential and the outcome is
within the control of the parties.
Most mediations will reach a settlement within a mediation day and
if they don't many settle soon after.
The parties control what may be decided in mediation; unlike
judicial and quasi-judicial processes where the parties have handed
over decision making to a third party.
Mediations have a high rate of settlement - in our experience over 4
out of 5 settle. Those which don't often find benefit in the mediation
proceedings which inform future decisions.
Mediation is flexible, party responsive and interest centred. The
mediator, with the parties' help, can design the process to suit the
nature of the dispute and the parties' availability.
Mediation can repair damaged relationships (personal or business)
where that is in the parties' interests where other dispute resolution
processes tend to leave relationships beyond repair.
Mediation seeks outcomes that are in the parties' best interests and
can be win-win but other processes, based on rights in law, usually
result in a winner and a loser - or even two losers.
Mediation can achieve better and sometimes creative solutions. The
parties have an opportunity to explore ways forward in a way that a
judicial system cannot.
As a voluntary process the parties may withdraw from the process at
any stage but experience shows that this is exceptional.
The mediating way:
In our fifteen years of facilitating mediations we have learnt that it is
important to meet parties informally first to discuss the process and so we
offer a free initial consultation. Knowing more about the nature of the
dispute we can propose the best design for the mediation and give a fee
estimate. The process is likely to include pre-mediation sessions with each
party and possibly their professional advisers followed by a mediation day
which can be split across more than one session. If you would like to get
an idea of a typical process please visit our Mediation Process page.
Mediation
Mediation is a conversation between two or more people that
disagree led by a neutral, trained third person.
Find out more
Why not have an initial, free consultation with us? There's absolutely no
obligation. Find out how we work and what we can do to help you resolve
a problem involving two parties.
There were complex legal issues involved. Mediation provided a platform
to test the other side's legal case in a co-operative setting rather than an
adversarial one. I think that type of discussion would have occurred prior
to litigating the issues in court but it was much more effective to have all
parties in one room, get instruction quickly, and conduct things on a face
to face basis. Sometimes wires can be crossed or people do not express
themselves the way they intend when corresponding only in writing or
on the phone - you cannot put a value on face to face discussion.
Party's Professional Adviser Feedback
Conflict flows from life. . . . Rather than seeing conflict as a threat, we
can understand it as providing opportunities to grow and to increase our
understanding of ourselves, of others, of our social structures. Conflicts
in relationships at all levels are the way life helps us to stop, assess, and
take notice. One way to truly know our humanness is to recognize the
gift of conflict in our lives."
John Paul Lederach
Mediation, Facilitation and Coaching