Mediation

Mediation is a method of out-of-court settlement of private disputes, in which the parties (litigants) negotiate with each other with the help and guidance of an independent and impartial mediator. The mediator is neither a judge nor an arbitrator, but is a professional in dispute litigation.

Through mediation, disputes can be resolved by mutual concessions and result in a viable and mutually satisfactory settlement of their dispute, without resorting to soul-destroying, time-consuming and high-cost litigation.

In general, mediation is a voluntary process where the parties can resolve any dispute as long as they have the power to dispose of the subject matter of the dispute. On the other hand, mediation cannot resolve disputes which are subject of any mandatory rules (e.g. adoption).

a. Family disputes

Family mediation concerns disputes that arise after termination of the marriage and can solve the following problems:
– Relocation of one of the spouses
– Communication with minor children
– Determining the amount of nutrition
– Distribution of movable and immovable property between spouses

b. Civil disputes

Civil disputes that can be resolved through mediation are innumerable and include most of our daily transactions, such as commercial, banking, insurance, financial, hereditary, labor, real estate, medical liability, leasing, construction, intellectual property and many others.

c. Commercial disputes

Commercial disputes are those arising from transactions between businesses and are subject to mediation. The most common disputes are financial differences, delivery deadlines, product defects, exclusivity agreements, defaulting payments, outstanding balances.

Given that mediation is a process that has many and significant advantages, it has been used with spectacular success rates in dozens of countries overseas for years and with high frequency. The most important advantages of mediation are:

a. Low cost. The cost of mediation is significantly less than that of litigation.

b. Speed. Mediation is a short-term process (some hours or few days) as opposed to multi-year litigation.

c. Maintaining good relationships. The mediation agreements allow a sustainable professional & friendly relationship between the parties to be maintained in the future.

d. Privacy. Mediation takes place privately between the parties (litigants) in the presence of their attorneys, and all participants undertake in writing to respect the confidentiality of the procedure. In this way, the parties are not exposed in the courtrooms, the dignity of the parties is safeguarded and the case is not exposed to the eyes of any third party receiving any negative publicity.

e. Flexibility. Mediation is not based on strict procedural rules. The parties have control over the outcome of the process, and the agreement will be the result of mutual agreement. They may freely withdraw from mediation at any time, without giving reasons for their decision.

f. Enforcement. The agreement in a successful mediation may, at the initiative of either party, be submitted to the secretariat of the competent court of law and become enforceable. In other words, a successful mediation agreement has the power of an enforceable court decision.

In conclusion, mediation is a short dispute settlement process, as opposed to the extremely time-consuming dispute settlement in courts where the costs are high and cannot even be estimated in advance. Through mediation, the parties avoid long scheduled hearings, the insecurity of postponements, the waiting for a court judgement and generally the uncertainty of legal actions.

It is also an inexpensive procedure since the parties are able to settle their dispute without paying any court fees or other costs. It is sufficient for each party to pay the lawyer’s fee for the representation in mediation and to agree on the cost sharing of the mediator’s fee.