Mediation & Arbitration

In most cases, the cost of mediation is split evenly between the parties.

The key difference between mediation and arbitration is who decides the outcome. With mediation, the parties reach an agreement which becomes a court order. Arbitration places the decision-making authority in a third party (the arbitrator), who issues an arbitration award which becomes a court order.

Alternative Dispute Resolution is an overarching term that includes mediation, arbitration, and mediation/arbitration (MED/ARB). The nature of the dispute and desired assistance determines which of these processes are used.

Mediation is private, confidential, and voluntary, although most courts require completion of mediation before a contested hearing. An impartial mediator facilitates communication between both parties and helps the parties come to a mutually acceptable agreement. While these discussions are facilitated by a mediator, the solutions are encouraged to come from the parties themselves, rather than having a third party make decisions for them.

Arbitration involves retaining a third party to listen to evidence and arguments from each party involved before making a decision. In this case, parties will present testimony and evidence along with requests for relief.

Mediation/Arbitration (MED/ARB) is a hybrid of the two above-listed processes. In this case, the parties first participate in mediation. When agreements cannot be reached through mediation, the third party neutral will decide the disputed issues through arbitration.

We are currently conducting most mediations virtually which allows parties to avoid any contact with one another in violation of a Protection Order.

No. Typically our mediations are handled in a “shuffle mediation” format where each party is in a separate physical or virtual room.