The Five Doors

The five doors you can walk through to handle a dispute:

Negotiation. Mediation. Conciliation. Arbitration. Litigation

1. Negotiation

A trained mediator will offer a variety of ways to settle the conflict through facilitation. The parties involved make all final decisions. The negotiator/mediator is there to help guide the parties through the pitfalls and misunderstandings, to help find a solution that works for everyone.

2. Mediation

Experienced mediators control the process between two or more people seeking a permanent solution to any conflict. The majority of mediations will require a formal settlement agreement for signatures, most issues involve family disputes or small claims. Everything discussed during a mediation is confidential.

Heston Mediation offers this service, in-person and virtually. 

3. Conciliation

A conciliator who has experience in this remedy of dispute, will makes suggestions, offers solutions, and encourages parties to reach a fair agreement. Since the finalized settlement agreement is binding, both parties must give written consent prior to the start he/she, will engage in the process. This can be more adversarial in structure by trusting the conciliator to be fair. The process is confidential, and the conciliator will not disclose information to either party unless instructed to do so. 

It's best to find a conciliator who has the knowledge and experience in this form of dispute. Disputes range from insurance, construction, accounting, manufacturing, etc.

4. Arbitration

Arbitrations can be conducted by 1 or 3 individuals who possess specific knowledge and experience in the area of dispute, like (construction law, insurance law)and a host of others. The difference being, the outcome is binding and cannot be appealed. 

Parties offer testimony and evidence from both sides, allowing arbitrators to ask questions for clarification. Once all evidence and testimony are presented, the arbitrators break to discuss. The two wings can offer their opinions to the chair, and the chair announces the final decision normally in 30 days. The rules and procedures are not as strict as the trial court cases and can cost less to the plaintiff and defense.

5. Litigation - your last resort

This process may not be your best choice. It's the most expensive door you can walk through and makes all the information surrounding your dispute, public information. 

Generally, parties start from an adversarial position because litigation provides barriers, now an all-out war against the other side, making it difficult to find common ground. Lawyers on either side are not under oath and can make accusations without evidence. In divorce cases, the clients and their attorneys will use children as a bargaining tool, a mediator would against that method. Unfortunately, in manny cases, the lawyer's goal isn't to help find the best solution, but to provide more billable hours, resulting in high costs for you.

Learn more about the five doors from Jonathan Rodrigues