Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and legal topics understandable and fun. Her work has.
Christy Bieber, J.D. ContributorChristy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and legal topics understandable and fun. Her work has.
Written By Christy Bieber, J.D. ContributorChristy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and legal topics understandable and fun. Her work has.
Christy Bieber, J.D. ContributorChristy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and legal topics understandable and fun. Her work has.
ContributorAdam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Adam has resided at the intersection of legal and journalism for two decades. An award-winning journalist and legal strategist, he’s covered high-profile trials in Florida. After law school, Adam and spent two years clerking for a U.S. District Co.
Updated: Apr 24, 2023, 3:03am
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Mediation is a method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). It is an alternative to resolving a claim through litigation, which involves using the court system and allowing a judge or jury to resolve a dispute.
Mediation can be useful in many different kinds of claims, including personal injury cases, breach of contract claims and divorce cases.
This guide to mediation explains what the process involves, when it is beneficial, the pros and cons and whether mediation could be helpful for your case.
Mediation involves working with a trained mediator who helps to facilitate communication between parties involved in a legal dispute.
The purpose of mediation is to help the parties find a compromise so they can avoid going to court and asking a judge or a jury to decide their issues.
In many cases, mediation is voluntary. The parties involved in a civil case decide that they want to work with a mediator to try to settle their issues. Sometimes, however, a court will order the parties involved in litigation to go to mediation to try to resolve certain contested matters that have arisen during their legal proceedings.
Mediation can be used in a wide variety of legal cases. Some examples of situations where mediation may be used include:
Mediation tends to work best when all of the parties involved are committed to finding a resolution. Otherwise, even with the help of a mediator, it may be difficult or impossible for them to come to a consensus and determine together how their legal issues should be addressed.
The mediation process is different in every situation and for each different type of case because the process is personalized to the parties involved.
A trained mediator always guides the mediation and is usually paid by the parties involved in the legal dispute. Mediators usually charge an hourly rate. Unlike a judge or jury, their goal is not to make decisions for the parties, and they cannot issue binding orders affecting those involved in the mediation process.
Instead, the goal of the mediator is to guide a discussion between the parties. The mediator leads in the exchange of information and helps the parties through an effective bargaining process.
The mediator’s expertise is used to enable the parties to communicate more effectively, to frame and reframe issues so they can be more easily decided, to identify creative solutions to complex problems and to help those involved in the case set realistic expectations and find common ground.
Mediators can assist in drafting a settlement agreement when the parties to the dispute do find a compromise.
However, mediators do not make decisions for you, and they can’t force you to compromise when you are involved in the mediation process. However, they are trained to be effective at assisting you in identifying out-of-court resolutions that will work for you.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to mediation. Some of the big benefits include the following:
There are also some big downsides:
An experienced attorney can work with you during the mediation process to help you maximize the benefits and limit the downsides. If you are considering mediation, you should have an attorney representing you who is experienced in this method of alternative dispute resolution.
The purpose of mediation is to resolve legal disputes outside of court. A mediator helps you to find compromise if you are involved in divorce or family law proceedings, a personal injury claim, a breach of contract case or other type of civil litigation. If both parties to a court case want to try to agree to an out-of-court settlement, mediation helps them to do so when they can’t find compromise on their own.
A trained mediator oversees the process of mediation. A mediator guides discussion between two parties involved in a legal dispute. The mediator helps to frame the issues that must be resolved and guides the parties through effective communication so they can find a resolution acceptable to both sides. Mediators don’t order people to do things or force a resolution like judges do, instead they help the parties to a disagreement reach a compromise.
The goal of mediation is to get a settlement that is acceptable to you and that the other party to your legal dispute agrees to. You want to go into mediation looking for compromise, rather than trying to “win.” Otherwise, your mediation is not likely to be successful. If you understand your priorities, set realistic expectations and have clear goals for mediation, you are more likely to be able to find a settlement you’re happy with.
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ContributorChristy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and legal topics understandable and fun. Her work has appeared on Forbes, CNN Underscored Money, Investopedia, Credit Karma, The Balance, USA Today, and Yahoo Finance, among others.
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