How
mediation works
Mediation brings together all parties to a dispute
and their lawyers with a neutral mediator. The aim
is communication and negotiation, to achieve a mutually
acceptable settlement.
Cambridge Civil Mediation have the skills and experience
needed to give a mediation the best chance of success.
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notes on the mediation process
The strengths of mediation
-
The mediator is completely
neutral
-
The mediator will treat everything
you say as confidential – nothing you say
will be communicated to the other side unless
you specifically authorise the mediator to tell
them.
-
While
the mediator controls the process, the parties
control the content, with legal advice or guidance
from their lawyers; each party decides whether
to settle or not
-
Attendance
at a mediation is voluntary – any party
can walk away if they wish
-
Mediation
is without prejudice to any court proceedings
and confidential – no party can repeat
outside anything said confidentially in the mediation
What to expect
If all parties agree to try mediation,
CCM agrees a date and makes the arrangements. CCM
will send a draft mediation agreement to the parties’ solicitors
(or to the parties) for approval. All
parties prepare a short briefing statement for
the mediator and supply copies of the main documents
at least a week in advance of the mediation. Any
party may also prepare a private briefing paper
for the mediator’s eyes only.
When the parties arrive for the mediation, they
sign the mediation agreement and the mediator spends
some time separately with each. There may be
a joint meeting if the mediator thinks it appropriate
- a joint meeting allows each party to state their
position uninterrupted so that the other side
can hear where they are coming from. This
gives each party the chance not to argue their case
but to say things which the other side may not have
heard or previously understood in full. The
mediator may prolong the joint meeting if the parties
are communicating.
Subsequent discussions may take place separately
between the mediator and each party or jointly if
the mediator feels it would be beneficial. The mediator’s
role is to hear and understand each party’s
viewpoint, to enable communication of their viewpoint
and then help the parties see the dispute as a problem
to be resolved in order for them to decide what they
want to do about it. The objective is to do
a deal.
There are no set rules for a mediation – it
can take as long as needed. But the involvement of
a neutral mediator offers an independent channel
for communication between those in dispute, while
a structured approach to resolving differences gives
each party the best chance to put their own point
of view clearly as well as hearing where the other
side are coming from.
The aim of mediation is to reach a mutually agreed
solution acceptable to both parties. Once an agreement
is reached, the momentum is maintained (as long as
the parties are sure about it) and the deal is put
into writing immediately and signed.
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