Cullinane Moretta » Mediation

As a business owner or manager, you are may find yourself in a dispute: with your landlord over terms of a lease, with someone who owes you money, with someone you owe money to or with a staff member or colleague.

From time to time such disputes can escalate very quickly and the time consuming, expensive and stressful move towards litigation in the Courts becomes inevitable.

Mediation can help to resolve disputes more quickly, more cheaply and with better results than litigation.

According to a recent study by the European Parliament:

There is a well documented high success rate where disputants engaged in mediation.... saving over €7,500 per dispute

Low Stress & Fast Resolution to your dispute.

All organisations face disputes and conflict from time to time. These disputes can be expensive, stressful and distracting to resolve particularly when the dispute ends up in the courts before a judge. Mediation is a low stress, confidential and cost effective alternative to litigation through the courts but is an underused mechanism for resolving differences.

Why is Mediation not used more often

Lack of awareness of the benefits of mediation to those in dispute. The dispute could be any of the following : employee / employer, tenant / landlord, customer / supplier, partnership issue
Professional advisors reluctant to recommend mediation due a lack of understanding
The “default” position is litigation as parties positions polarise during negotiations

Why mediation presents the best option to resolve your dispute:

Cost effective : the process does not require the discovery of documents or formalised procedures
Fast : many commercial disputes may be resolved within 1 day and workplace disputes may involved several sessions (of few hours duration) over a several days / weeks
Immediate : e mediation can be arranged quickly with disputing parties (within days or weeks if necessary)
Confidential : the fact that disputing parties have entered a mediation process is confidential and any settlement reached is confidential unless the parties agree otherwise
Without prejudice : information disclosed during mediation cannot be used in subsequent negotiation (or litigation)
Multiple parties : mediation can involved 3 or more parties to an agreement
Relationship with litigation : Mediation can take place before or even during a litigation process
Professional advisors : parties have the option to be represented at mediation by their legal advisors and to introduce other advisors such as engineers or property experts
Ongoing relationships : mediation helps to ensure that a working relationship is preserved while at the same time bring the dispute to a conclusion

If you are currently engaged in a dispute and looking for an alternative to litigation, we would be delighter to discuss how we can help.

Please email Don Cullinane, Managing Director on don.cullinane@cullinanemoretta.com or ring +353 (0)21 123 4567 or +353 (0)86 283 5920 and we will get back to you promptly