What Is Mediation and What Happens?

Many people have heard of mediation but they do not know exactly what it is and what happens when a mediator is called in to solve problems. Basically, that is what a mediator does, they help people who have issues that they cannot resolve on their own and they work to come to a resolution that both parties can agree on. This typically does not happen in one sitting and there are steps that are taken to ensure an outcome that benefits both parties involved. The good thing about mediation is that it is much less expensive and much less time consuming than spending money on attorneys and going through years of litigation in a courtroom.

For instance, say you are involved in a battle over a business where you and your previous partner cannot agree on how the assets from the company should be divided after the business is dissolved. You simply want what you want and they want what they want and you are both refusing to back down. You would then call the mediator service to come in and bring some resolutions to the table that you can agree upon.

They look at all the business documents, financial reports, bank account information and things of this nature. Then they use this information to formulate a payment schedule for those creditors that are still owed money. After that, they look at what is left and figure out a fair way to decide who gets what based on the information that is reviewed. If you put in 75% of the monetary investment and the partner did 75% of the work, they may feel that an even split of leftover assets is a fair resolution. No matter what the decision, they are working hard to make sure both parties are happy with the end result and that both walk away getting as much of what they asked for as possible.

This can take some time, but it never takes as long as a lengthy litigation would and only costs a fraction of the court and attorney costs. Basically, the same outcome may come about after a lengthy trial, but you are out more because of the costs and may end up with less than would have received through mediation. Many people prefer this method because of the savings both in time and money and would never go through a trial again when they can have their issues solved easily through mediation.