subject: What Are Mediation Services? [print this page] In the litigious society that well all live in, it should come as no surprise that such a high percentage of the public is completely unaware that mediation services actually exist. Hey! Lawyers and in fact the whole legal system is counting on people to not know about this type of service.
Lawyers love a conflict because it's how they make their money, and the last thing that they want in most cases is a quick settlement. That's no way for them to make money if they're being paid up to $250 per hour! They need the fight to go on.
Then even after many court cases are concluded there in fact is no final agreement. Oh sure one party or, the other walks away being labeled the winner, but through it all the seeds have been sown for future conflicts down the road.
Mediation services on the other hand focus not on creating a winner and a loser. Instead their goal is to negotiate or, craft an agreement that is amicable to both parties involved. After all, people in general do know intuitively what's fair in the majority of disagreements.
Really all that is needed in the majority of instances that lead to civil cases is an unbiased party to be placed between the two opposing sides. The problem though is that in a formal court setting, the exact opposite takes place. The opposing sides are encouraged not to communicate their differences.
The real tragedy is in drawn out, lengthy and expensive court cases that grew out of a dispute where all one side wanted was an apology. Believe it! Can you just imagine the look on an attorneys face when his or her client informs them that this is all they want when they are to receive 25% of any civil judgment? What's 25% of an apology?!
What many people also don't know is that mediation can culminate in a binding legal agreement. This means that if the opposing party fails to abide by the terms of a mediated solution, you will be in a far more advantageous position should the conflict move on to formal court litigation.
Another nice thing about mediation services is that you don't have to be in the presence of the person you are engaged in the conflict with. Mediators are free to schedule interviews, and appointments however they see fit, and in divorce cases in particular this alone can work wonders to expedite a resolution.
Mediation services can also bring a resolution in as little time as one day, but more often than not, a final resolution is arrived at after a series of meetings. Even so, in many cases the real sticking issues are in fact minimal in number, and in those cases a resolution can be arrived at after as few as just one meeting.
