Signals that mediation should be considered

Mediation offers an opportunity for parties in conflict to resolve problems with the help of an objective third party. Read below to find out if your particular situation makes you a good candidate for mediation services.

It has been several months since there have been any words or discussion about settlement

Everything is on hold until one or both sides receive requested documents

Either side is about to file for a court hearing

One or both parties are unrealistic or unreasonably emotional

The costs of litigation exceed the monetary value of the issues involved

Settlement discussion came close but failed

It has been several months since there have been any words (let alone discussions) concerning settlement

Settlement requires momentum. For whatever reason, cases stall. Mediation or even the discussion of it may restore positive settlement energy.

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One or both sides are waiting for requested documents, and everything is on hold until they are produced

You may wait forever or have to undergo a bruising discovery fight that rarely makes anything better. Meanwhile the parties want to move on with their lives and you want to close the file (and get paid). Mediation can help manage the production of document or work out a suitable compromise.

Either side is about to file for a court hearing

Leverage often exists in the threat to file something (anything) in court. That leverage may be lost when the papers are actually filed. Also, court documents usually cause one or both parties to say inflammatory things about the other (or are construed as such). Some lawyers have a hair-trigger in filing, even if the case settles quickly thereafter. Mediation can prevent an unnecessary and conflictual filing of court documents and can bring a change in the way the parties handle their crises.

One or both parties are unreasonably emotional

Mediation allows parties to have their "day in court" and also to become educated about the realities of litigation. Often people just want to tell their story to someone who will listen. A mediator will. They don't have to "tell it to a judge". Besides, if the mediator doesn't like the story, the client won't get it thrown back with a crippling, enforceable, virtually nonappealable order.

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The costs of litigation exceed the monetary value

Even if "principled" monetary issues are involved, someone has to pay the bill when the guns stop shooting. Mediation can end it, maybe not perfectly, but the parties can get some closure and move on.

Settlement discussion came close but failed

Mediations can often give support to parties who are on the fence and can close pending negotiations.

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