Our team of skilled mediation lawyers and trained mediators can assist you to prepare for mediation, assist you at mediation, or act as an independent mediator in a dispute.
Pursuing a dispute to Court can be expensive, stressful and time consuming. Mediation is an alternate form of dispute resolution and offers a structured way for two parties to reach a resolution or settlement that is cost effective and fast.
Mediation is often successful for all kinds of disputes – whether your dispute is of a commercial nature; regarding a breach of contract or business dispute, negligence, construction, or insurance, or a civil dispute about a deceased estate, a family trust, an issue with your neighbour. We can help you decide if mediation is the right option for your particular situation, and then assist you to achieve a good outcome.
How does Mediation work?
In a mediation, two or more parties involved in the dispute meet with the intention of reaching an agreement. A neutral third party, the mediator, is there to guide the discussions in a structured manner, to better enable the parties to reach agreement. The mediator is there to help the parties to reach a negotiated settlement. The mediator does not decide what the outcome will be. All parties to the dispute need to be in agreement for a settlement to be reached.
Each party has an opportunity to set out their case and their version of events, allowing the parties to feel heard. What is discussed is private and confidential and cannot be disclosed outside of the mediation. If an agreement cannot be reached, what is discussed in the mediation cannot be used in other Court proceedings regarding the matter.
Each party to the dispute can also have a lawyer there to support them in the mediation, but it is not required.
If the parties do agree, the mediator draws up a legally binding settlement agreement, that the parties sign.
What is the benefit of mediation?
It is far cheaper than going to Court, and a resolution can often be reached immediately rather than waiting months or years for it to proceed through the Court system – resulting in less stress for all involved.
As the purpose of mediation is for the parties to reach agreement, often the dispute can be resolved while still maintaining an amicable relationship between the parties. This is particularly welcome where it is an ongoing business relationship, or the dispute involves friends or family members.
How we can help?
Our specialist team of dispute resolution lawyers have extensive experience assisting both two party and multiple party disputes across a wide range of commercial and civil matters.
Peter Smith is an expert Mediator with over 30 years’ experience mediating commercial and civil disputes. Trained in the LEADR (Lawyers Engaged in Alternative Dispute Resolution) method of mediation, Peter is often called on to mediate complex ongoing disputes.
We can:
- Act as the independent third-party mediator
- Prepare for and attend the mediation as your lawyer
- Assist you to prepare for the mediation where you will represent yourself.
Types of disputes we have acted as mediator for and/or assisted clients with appearing at a mediation:
- Breach of contract & general contract disputes
- Joint venture disputes
- Intellectual property (IP) disputes
- Employment
- Shareholder disputes
- Disputes between company directors
- Deceased estates (contesting or challenging a will)
- Family trusts
- Insurance disputes
- Building and construction disputes
- Neighbour disputes – including in regard to trees, fences, damage to property, retaining walls and drainage, Rights of Way (ROW) / Shared driveways, boundaries and encroachment
- Council disputes – regarding information on LIMs, faulty LIMs, zoning,
