Advantages and Disadvantages of Mediation
The Disadvantages of Mediation
While mediation is an excellent way to ensure that communication lines are kept open between the two parties, there are certain circumstances when mediation is not a solution to the conflict. This is particularly relevant when one of the parties is entirely to blame and is using the process of mediation to stall legal proceedings.
While the act of mediation is to allow both parties to find a mutually beneficial resolution to the issue at hand, mediation will not work if one party is entirely to blame. In this case the other party should not under any circumstances negotiate or compromise.
People can find themselves in mediation that in no way benefits them if there is an imbalance of power and if this becomes evident, the mediator should advice the more vulnerable party to seek advice and assistance before continuing.
The Advantages of Mediation
The field of arbitration and mediation has grown extensively in the last few years and as more people find legal proceedings invasive and costly, more and more people are turning to the professional mediation services. As a result there are many more mediators who specialise in particular fields and have extensive experience in specific issues. There is also a great flexibility to these conflict resolution processes.
In addition to having more control over the resolution, there is also a greater confidentiality in keeping the issues of conflict out of the courts. All mediations can be held in private and can ensure the confidentiality of proprietary information as well as trade secrets. Alternative dispute resolutions (ADR) are also much preferred to litigation in that both the settlement agreements as well as the hearings are not made public.
Mediation saves money as well as time. The general agreement is that both parties pay equal share of the cost of proceedings which is dramatically less than if the same dispute had to go before the judicial system. In addition to that, you can be assured that involving yourself in ADR will often result in a much more expedious resolution to the dispute. You can arrange for time limits to be placed on each of the various phases in arbitration and with mediation, both parties can agree to a timeframe to meet again in the event that a resolution is not obtained in the first mediation.
