How a Mediator Can Help Your Litigation Claim Avoid Further Costs

By the time you have decided to submit a claim to the Florida Court system, you will have been paying out pocket.  Throughout the process, there are attorney’s fees, document submission fees and more.  You have to ask yourself if the claim is worth pursuing.  Once you get through the four basic stages of litigation: pleading, discovery, summary, and mediation you could be looking at hundreds of dollars spent.  If you go to court, you could be looking at a lot more.  Mediation is a good place to settle.

What is Mediation?

Mediation is the term used for resolving legal disputes using a neutral third party mediator.  Mediation is generally one session, possibly more, but a good mediator will be able to quickly sort out the strengths and weaknesses of both parties’ positions.  The goal is to find a solution that both parties will feel confident in and can walk away with the case practically considered closed.  If the parties can come to an agreement, they will have reached a settlement and the attorneys will draw up the agreements.  The agreements then get signed by both parties that then get sent to be signed off by the judge presiding over the case without either party ever needing to appear in court. 

Mediation is Not Binding

In Melbourne, FL both parties must go to mediation before appearing in civil court.  The judge will look at what happened in mediation through the agreements that the attorney’s will draw up.  It is not binding until BOTH parties sign the agreements.  Or it could be that arbitration is ordered in some litigation cases.  This means that the outcome would be binding.  However, mediation is so successful that some litigants are opting for pre-lawsuit mediating.

Reasons to Hire a Mediator

In the state of Florida, 95% of all general litigation cases are settled outside of court through the mediation process.  That is a great reason to hire a mediator.  But here are a few more:

–          A mediator is less expensive than paying your attorney for appearing in court and all the related court fees

–          The settlement could be better than if the case went to jury trial

–          Quicker resolution of the case

–          You can have more say as to how the settlement ends, as opposed to a jury deciding the outcome

–          Mediated outcomes are more practical and easier to uphold as opposed to court issued wins/losses