MEDIATION FOR BUSINESS DISPUTES EPISODE 2
Good day dear listener, this is episode 2 of Vanilla Law’s mediation series, a series where we share our experience on what mediation entails and how we approach securing the best possible outcome at our mediations. As Mediation Counsel, we attend mediations both in private and through established mediation institutions on a regular basis, and in our experience, one of the most important ingredients to a successful mediation is having the right mindset going into the all-important mediation process.
Now the first key aspect of having the correct mindset would be ensuring you go into the mediation with an open mind. If you go into the process fixed in what you are willing to take home, and you refuse to change that bar no matter what, and you don’t want to even listen to the counterparty, quite often – the mediation process will be doomed to fail. There will be occasions where this is no fault of your own, for example, you may be so angry and upset at your counterparty who you previously trusted as a member of your family or a close friend to an extent that you are unable to have a fully rational conversation with them at the mediation table. This is one of the many reasons why you may consider hiring a lawyer, to think and negotiate in your best interests as they better positioned to not be influenced by such emotions, anger or rage as a result of the conduct of the counterparty in question.
Now the second key aspect would really be that of patience. The mediation process tends to be a rather long one, which usually lasts at the very least close to a full business day. There are fixed structures and formats for mediation which mediators are trained in and try to follow, and you will be expected to share your side of the story the same way your counterparty will be sharing his or her own.
The willingness to listen so that parties can work towards a mutually acceptable settlement is essential to mediation success. And you might really want to get a lawyer to brief you in full on the procedural strategy and why mediation is structured in this certain manner which goes a long way in helping you to understand why certain questions are being asked and why the conversation is going down a very specific direction.
And now the third and last key aspect that we will be exploring that is key to mediation success would be that of authenticity. Mediators will often seek to understand your motivations and interests in the ongoing dispute, and such information is crucial for the mediator to best facilitate and move the discussions towards a settlement that you can stomach. And it usually does you no favours whatsoever to obfuscate or deliberately hide your interests if you go into mediation seeking a genuine settlement of the dispute in question.
As lawyers passionate about mediation and alternative dispute resolution, we hope that this assists both our clients and our other listeners to achieve their best possible outcome at the negotiation table. Stay tuned for our next episode where we discuss the benefit of engaging counsel for your mediation. This is Boon Chong from VanillaLaw, thank you so much for listening.