CIVIL & COMMERCIAL MEDIATION

A Judge can decide if you're right or wrong...

...or we can help you work out a solution

If you came via the home page you will already have heard us talk about the main three reasons why mediation helps people - stress, cost and time.

Never has this been truer than in commercial and many civil disputes. Often Lawyers have already had to get involved and thousands of pounds in legal fees are ramping up - on both sides of the dispute.

The whole legal process takes an enormous amount of time - several months is pretty quick, many cases drag on for years - the stress can be unbearable for many, and that's before you even get to court. Add in the worry of being cross-examined by Lawyers and Barristers, plus the chance that after all that you could lose the case and have to pay legal costs of the other side - there's no wonder the stress can become too much.

The first thing to say about mediation is to reassure you that there's very little to lose and a tremendous amount to gain. If mediation doesn't resolve the issue, then you can still go to court as planned. If, however, mediation does resolve the dispute (which it does more than 90% of the time) then you've saved all of that time, money and stress that was ahead of you. Click here to see our most commonly asked questions and answers.

The most common things we hear people say after mediation? "I wish we'd done this much sooner", "At last I'll be able to move on with my life".

Civil Mediation

There are many disputes which people get involved in which could ultimately end up in court with lots of legal fees and the associated time, cost and stress. Below are just a few examples:-

Landlord / tenant disputes

Asset distribution (eg property) *

Disputes between neighbours

Right of way / access

Tort (a civil wrong), eg negligence

An Example

We were contacted by an unmarried couple who had unfortunately separated but could not agree on many things in terms of splitting their assets, including around £500,000 equity in their beautiful farmhouse they had developed together over the last 20 years or so. They had tried to reach agreement but were miles apart, so were taking things to court - between them Lawyers had estimated around £45,000 in legal fees and they were looking at around 12 months for a hearing.

After six emotional hours in mediation both parties agreed an equity split and they could put the house on the market the next day. We spent a further couple of hours listing other assets - favourite furniture, the car, etc - even the cat! At the end of the day they had agreed on everything they could think of. They could move on with their lives - it cost them a day of their time and around £1,500 in total which they split between them.

No longer did they need to lose sleep about battling against each other in court and spending a large proportion of their equity on legal fees. The stress lifting from each of their shoulders was almost tangible.

* Please note that where disputes are between married couples or children are involved, we work with trusted Associates to deal with family mediation. For family related issues please click here.

An Example

We became involved in a dispute between two company Directors and equal shareholders who had together built a very successful company. Unfortunately, their relationship had become acrimonious and they wanted to part ways, but disagreed widely in terms of company value. Neither could see how they would ever agree a mutual separation.

Having both instructed Lawyers the estimated timescale for resolving all issues was two to three years, during which time the company value and the livelihood of employees would suffer due to the two Directors working against each other. Joint legal fees were estimated at £150,000 to £200,000.

We worked with the two Directors and their respective Lawyers where required, and the mediation went into a second day due to the complexities involved. By the end of the second day they reached an agreement in terms of separation of one Director from the business and an agreed purchase price for company shares. The mediation cost them two days of their time and around £2,700 in mediation fees.

Most importantly, they could both move on from the intense stress and anxiety that the situation was causing them both, and the future of the company and employees looked much brighter.

Before the world changed in 2020, we were already carrying out mediations virtually due to the many benefits of doing so - especially when things are extremely urgent and it's difficult for people to be in the same venue. Although some situations must be dealt with in-person (always the preferred choice if possible), sometimes customers choose a virtual and we see no difference in the results. We're happy to discuss what works best for you and to chat through the benefits of each approach - we do draw the line with mediator training though - you really can't learn proper mediation skills over a screen!