Dispute resolution is considered a catch-all term for the ways we can resolve disputes without using the legal channel we call litigation.
Arbitration, conciliation, mediation are all alternatives to litigation and they all work well.

Mediation is one way of doing things and has an impressive track record because of how it works..the parties to the dispute create their own settlement, using negotiations and dialogue as the means to the agreement, with a trained facilitator, the mediator, guiding the negotiations and keeping it on track and driving momentum.

Restorative Justice is mostly seen as an alternative or additional tool for dealing with criminal offences, but is also now growing as an incredibly powerful tool to help schoolchildren deal with issues taking place in and out of school, as its key emphasis is teaching youngsters how to listen and create effective dialogue.

The fees take into account the preparation time for the mediation, reading your supporting documents and running pre-mediation sessions with you and the other party involved. Then theres the mediation itself and any follow up work. The hourly rate isnt cheap, but youre only paying for a short amount of time, once youve reached a settlement, thats it.

Commercial mediations start at around £600 per party, would average around £1500 per party but could be more depending on the dispute value and complexity Please get in touch to discuss in more detail.

Yes. Once the terms are agreed, it’s like any agreement or contract: once you’ve signed, you’re bound to it.

On top of this, it’s not worth breaching it, as you’ll both end up having to start the entire dispute again.

However, you’re never obliged to reach a settlement, there are plenty of reasons why parties walk away without one. It’s your choice. We won’t force you, only encourage you to find a way to it.

The best way to put it is:

I don’t represent you or the other party. I represent the agreement you haven’t reached yet. 

Normally, we start the process at 10am and aim for an agreement sometime in the early afternoon, giving the rest of day to working out the actual terms of settlement.

This isn’t set in stone, and it’s not unusual to be going through the evening and sometimes even reconvening the next day.

Generally though, things move at a good pace, and the vast majority of mediations settle on the first day.

Yes. Lots of people do.

Some prefer it, as it can be a lot easier without the travel; if there’s a lot of animosity between the parties,; or if either or both parties have mobility or access issues.

However, online work always suffers from the issues of connection quality and also lacks the personal impact of being in the same space.

It’s up to you, I prefer face to face, but I’m pragmatic.

We all sign a mediation agreement, and that contains an Non Disclosure Agreement.

If anyone breaches it, they’re liable.

The news often reports of court cases being settled out of court, to which there’s no further explanation. That’s pretty much the same thing. The agreement reached is private, usually for reasons only known to the parties.