"WORD SEARCH" What word is missing from a report in the Daily Telegraph 14th November 2008, paraphrased below? Claimant was self employed who sued the Defendants for £2,232.00 following termination of his contract. • Defendants counterclaimed for £3,019.00 for remedial work. • Following a total of 9 days of court time over a twelve month period, the Claimant was ordered to pay £265.00 + interest to the Defendants. • The cost - each side was ordered to pay their own costs, the total of which exceeded £100,000.00. Possible missing words: • Commerciality; • Common sense; • Expensive; • Logical; • Proportionality; There may be others which spring to mind but the important one is MEDIATION. Why? • In a case like this very unlikely that the Mediator's fees would exceed £2000.00 in total. • The £100,000 would probably not include the time lost by the parties in advising their lawyers and attending court. • The fact that the matter went to court means that the parties are unlikely to work together again, whereas following mediation, and thereby agreement, further business opportunities are not ruled out. • A mediation could have been initiated at the outset of the disagreement and certainly before court fees became payable. • A mediation can be organised at very short notice - 7 to 10 days. • Less documentation than a court case - a "position statement" from each party is all that is necessary +, in this particular case, contract documents. In any dispute this word - MEDIATION - is worth remembering. See www.nwmediationsolutions.co.uk or contact Peter Whitman on 01254 720278
I’ve been in legal administration for over 35 years – I know how things work, and appreciate the benefits of mediation as an essential tool to consider when in dispute. I can discuss its benefits to…
