Elder Law

Crain?s Business Newspaper Confirms That Mediation Firms Are Thriving

By dvanar

According to an article in the July 6th edition of Crain?s Chicago Business, the recession has been a boost for mediation firms as companies try to cut litigation costs.

The article listed a number of reasons for the growth of mediation:

• The trend to mediate more types of disputes. The expansion of mediation to resolve commercial disputes was specifically noted.
• The increasing number of construction, employment and other contracts that contain clauses specifying that disputes be mediated.
• The establishment of approved mediation programs by the courts, and the increasing number of cases referred to mediation by judges.
• The demonstrated ability of parties in litigation to resolve their dispute through mediation.
• The high success rate in cases referred to mediation, approaching 70% in certain types of cases.
• The use of mediation reduces or eliminates the substantial costs and delays associated with the legal system.
• Litigating parties say that mediation helped open their eyes to the strengths and weaknesses of the claims they were asserting in court.

A number of parties with pending court cases referred to mediation were quoted in the article to demonstrate the high participant satisfaction with the process. As one participant stated after successfully resolving a case through mediation: ?Everyone got an education, and a deal was struck. I wish (mediation) was mandatory in more situations.?

The article can be found here - Mediation firms thrive in slow economy

Full post as published by Law Office of Donald D. Vanarelli Blog on July 07, 2009 (boomark / email).