Mediation and Arbitration
The great advantage of mediation is that the parties themselves create their own agreement as to how they will resolve their dispute. They don't have a judge with a busy calendar deciding how the dispute will be resolved or which party should win and which should lose. In mediation the parties can craft their own way of going forward.
The court system works well most of the
time and sometimes a trial is the only way of resolving a dispute. But, the courts are congested and
trials are scheduled for a year or more after a complaint is filed. Consequently, many parties have arbitration
provisions in their business and employment agreements or they are willing to voluntarily submit
their dispute to arbitration. Statutes
related to homeowner association disputes require most disputes to be mediated
or arbitrated before a lawsuit can be filed.
Arbitration has its advantages and disadvantages and at the outset of
their business transactions, clients should be informed of the suitability of
arbitration for their particular business agreements.
I represent numerous clients in mediation
and arbitration. I obtained a
certificate in Dispute Resolution in 2004 from Pepperdine Law School, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, so that I
would have more expertise in this area.
