The Peacemaker – Mediation in Action
Published in Human Law Mediation Ezine, April 2007
This is a tale of aggression, conflict, two equally matched sides and a knight in shining armour, not the kind of thing that pops into your in box every day of the week!
Once upon a time there were two businesses in dispute over a couple of boats. As in all good business tales there was a supplier (the boat builder) and his customer (let’s call him Captain Ahab). Captain Ahab ordered two boats from the boat builder, with a view to this being the start of a much longer term business relationship. Ahab took delivery of the first two boats, which looked great. He paid the boat builder and off he sailed. Everyone was happy.
If we move on 18 months things have changed somewhat. Captain Ahab had experienced some serious problems with the boats. The boat builder is convinced Ahab was using them for much heavier duties than they were designed. They were in conflict and they’d called in the cavalry - lawyers were involved! There seemed to be no hope of resolving this dispute – with Ahab now suing the boat builder for £100,000, which would have near enough put him out of business, and legal costs escalating with each day they failed to settle. With claim and counter claim, aggressive posturing and anger all round the case was heading towards a final hearing when the Judge would have the final say!
This is where our tale takes a turn for the better, up rides a knight in shining armour – Sir Lancelot Mediator who offers to work with the boat builder, Ahab and their legal teams to see if he can work out a solution without going to Court and without dragging out the case further.
The lawyers (being enlightened and realising that mediation solves 80% of cases) readily agree and encourage their clients who were somewhat more reticent.
Captain Ahab’s lawyer points out the benefits for the claimants namely there is greater chance of getting the money sooner a mediator can offer wider solutions than the court. Whilst the boat builder’s solicitor says the benefits are that the legal costs will be less if they mediate and the mediation experience is less stressful than going to court.
Ahab and the boat builder decide to sleep on it but the next day they agree to meet with Sir Lancelot Mediator and give it a go.
On the day of the mediation, Sir Lancelot Mediator introduced himself to Ahab, the boat builder and their solicitors and explains a little bit about how mediation works. He explains that he will facilitate discussions between the parties, that everyone will have an opportunity to have their say and put their case forward and that his role is to help Ahab and the boat builder come to an agreement on how their argument could be settled.
It seemed a sensible way forward so Ahab and the boat builder said ‘lets get on with it’.
Sir Lancelot Mediator meets everyone; the lawyers, Ahab and the boat builder. He saw them all together first so they could give their views of the case to each other directly and then broke up the meeting and dealt with Ahab’s viewpoint of the dispute and them the boat builders. All of this on a strictly confidential basis.
It took five hours of discussions (sometimes heated one’s at that), all managed by Sir Lancelot Mediator. But in the end a deal was struck which all parties were prepared to sign up to. The boat builder agreed to pay £20,000 to Ahab by way of compensation for his inconvenience. He also listened to Ahab’s problems with the boats and realised that there were some genuine issues that if he could improve would help his sales of boats to other customers. In turn Ahab was reminded why he selected this boat builder in the first place and was now willing to talk again about that business deal they had first proposed 18 months earlier.
What was the mediator’s secret?
To establish what was really important to the boat builder and Ahab, beyond the legal dispute and then to help them both see the possible weaknesses in their own cases. In this way both sides tend to be less aggressive and realise that they are not invincible. Putting these two together enables the mediator to work on crafting a commercial solution beyond the law.
Lawyers considering mediation for client cases might consider these benefits.
- It works – statistically it works in at least 80% of cases
- It avoids the perils of litigation which is unpredictable, costly and time consuming
- It enables cases to reach a conclusion sooner than the legal process
- The process itself is actually quick - even the most complex cases can settle within 2 days at most
- It is particularly useful if you wish to keep an ongoing relationship with the other disputing party
- Parties retain control of the process rather than having a result imposed by a 3rd party such as Judge
- It’s confidential, litigation tends to be public and can damage reputation if the details of a case reach the newspapers or customers
These are compelling commercial reasons and in most circumstances mediation can delivery a solution that your clients will thank you for.
If you are an enlightened lawyer needing a mediator to work on a client dispute, or a business in an argument with a customer or supplier why not give Sir Lancelot Mediator (sorry that’s Justin Patten of Human Law Mediation) a call on 0844 800 3249.
If reading this article has made you realise that you don’t really see how mediation could work for your clients or if you feel you need training on How to make mediations work for your firm and your clients call Justin on 0844 800 3249.
Contact Human Law Mediation on 0844 800 3249.
Justin Patten is an accredited mediator with the Academy of Experts and is himself a fully qualified solicitor having spent many years handling client disputes through the courts he now offers full commercial mediation and training services to lawyers and their clients. If you would like to reproduce this article please contact Justin Patten on 0844 800 3249.
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