Mediate Michigan

Your company has a dispute with a customer, or perhaps a vendor, and a valuable relationship is at risk, not to mention your money and your reputation. Are you doomed to fight it out down at the courthouse in the public eye? Are you prepared for a protracted, knock-down, drag-out brawl that could cause a significant business interruption? Mediating the dispute often is a better option.

Mediation is an alternative to litigation in which a trained, neutral third party helps parties settle their dispute in a private, informal setting outside of court. A mediator engages in “shuttle diplomacy” to help parties reach an agreement. However, a mediator cannot impose any settlement: the parties themselves decide whether to settle their dispute or not. The parties can choose to submit their dispute to mediation, or mediation can be ordered by the court.

Mediation provides a lower cost, highly effective way of resolving disputes through negotiated settlement. A negotiated settlement is a solution parties can live with since they create it themselves, while a judgment from a court is a result parties must live with, whether they like it or not. Mediation is a confidential process protected by statute, an attractive alternative to being forced to air dirty laundry in a public court proceeding.

via Mediation provides low cost solution for dispute resolution – Fort Worth Business Press.