One of the questions that people ask is what is mediation?
Well, mediation is an opportunity to get your case settled. A lot of people don’t really understand what mediation is.
What mediation is not, it’s not litigation, it’s not where you come over and you start fighting.
Mediation is an opportunity to resolve an issue between two parties. Mediation basically is a venting of what both parties feel about what the case is really about.
Nine times out of 10 mediation is conducted with lawyers but mediation can be conducted without lawyers. The only issue about mediation is that both parties have to understand that you’re here to resolve the case. You’re not here to fight who got the better part of the particular issue.
Now one of the important parts about mediation is what kind of case is it? Is it a business case or is it a personal injury case? Is it a contract case or is it a family law case? You have to make that decision, both parties do. Then the second thing you have to figure out is what kind of mediator are you looking for?
There are all types of mediators out there. At one time, one mediator could handle a lot of different things but now since we’ve gotten so specialized there are mediators that deal only with family law, mediators that deal only with condemnation, mediators that deal with personal injury. So you have your whole gamut of people to look out there who understand these issues. Now, the other issue about picking a mediator is the cultural issue. Sometimes you have language issues or cultural background issues, that’s an important part that you or both your parties have to understand.
Now, timing of mediation is also very important and crucial. Some people like to do mediation before they start any type of litigation. Why is that important? Because it saves you money and it saves you some time. Some people like to do mediation after they file the lawsuit and before they spend a lot of money. At that point you have a lawyer who kind of understands the process who can help you and guide you along that process. And some people like to go ahead and hire a lawyer, file the lawsuit, get some discovery which means get some information flowing back and forth and then continue mediation. But again, you, as the party, are the only person that’s going to make the decision. Sometimes you do need a lawyer to help you out. Lawyers are well versed in trying to help you out in these types of situations.
The other thing that’s really important about mediation are that the people have to be in attendan0ce. The parties really have to be in attendance for mediation because you have to have 100% of your intention in that particular time. Because this is your time, this is your day to resolve your case without spending more time, more money on the file. If you need to contact a lawyer or hire a lawyer, you should call the Houston Lawyer Referral Service, they’re here for you.