Business Mediation is on the rise but why is that? Well Business Mediation is increasingly being used due to a reluctance for businesses to get involved in protracted legal disputes. Increasingly businesses have turned to Mediation and the pandemic has certainly increased this with tensions and emotions being high for employers and employees. Another reason for choosing Mediation as opposed to Court proceedings is that it can be considerably more cost effective and can lead to more productive and amicable conclusions.
Leading Leicester law firm, Dodds Solicitors share with us everything you need to know about Business Mediation.
WHAT IS BUSINESS MEDIATION?
Business Mediation is an affordable and efficient means of problem-solving between two disputing parties. Cooperation, rather than conflict, is the sole focus of the process and to aid with this, parties meet in a neutral setting with an impartial mediator present.
From there, the mediator will help to consider the issues and options with the parties to reach an agreement. After the dispute is settled, both parties can sign documents agreeing to the outcome.
WHEN WOULD YOU USE BUSINESS MEDIATION?
Do you have an issue with another company that you work with?
Do you have an employee that you need assistance to deal with and come to a mutual agreement?
Are you a divorcing couple that share a business?
Examples of successfully mediated disagreements include:
- Contract disputes
- Financial disputes
- Insurance disputes
- Intellectual property (IP) disputes
- Tax disputes
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT AT MEDIATION?
If two businesses wish to mediate, they must agree to appoint an independent mediator. The mediator will not take a view as to the merits of the parties position but will remain independent and try to guide the parties involved to an agreed solution that works for all the parties involved.
Mediation can either take place face to face (subject to government restrictions) or by way of an online meeting. The mediator will meet with each party in turn and may have a meeting with both parties together if everyone agrees.
From there you can expect business mediation to follow this structure:
- Introduction: the mediator will explain the rules and the mediation process to each party.
- Statements by parties: a representative from each party is allowed the opportunity to describe the dispute.
- Identification of the dispute: the mediator will ask questions in turn to better understand the situation.
- Private meetings: the mediator invites each party to a private meeting to better understand their perspective of the dispute and to assess possible solutions.
- Negotiation: the mediator will assist the parties to reach an agreed solution.
- Written agreements: When the parties reach a resolution the parties then draw up a written document to reflect the agreement which has been reached.
WHY USE BUSINESS MEDIATION?
With the aid of an impartial mediator from Dodds Solicitors, we can work together to come to a solution for both parties. One of the big benefits of mediation is that that it can resolve disputes much more quickly than court proceedings and it means that as the parties have both worked together to produce a solution it may be possible for them to do business together in the future which would be an unlikely outcome after going through expensive and costly court proceedings.
Mediation could provide a workable solution for example where a building contract has been partially completed and agreement needs to be reached regarding how the project can be completed and what payment could be made or between two employees who struggle to work together due to clashing personalities or where one party wants to buy out another party who is leaving a business partnership.
WHAT OUTCOMES CAN YOU EXPECT FROM MEDIATION?
No matter what the problem, whether it is a contractual or financial dispute, business mediation aims to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of each party. The mediation process usually takes place over a single day and in most cases leads to an agreement being reached between the parties.
This is a binding agreement and can be upheld in court.
For all your Business Mediation needs please contact Ashwin Topiwala who is an accredited Civil and Commercial mediator with the ADR group on 0116 2628596 or by email at ashwin.topiwala@dodds-solicitors.co.uk