AVOID COSTLY LAWYERS MEDIATE!

Mediation More Effective Than Court and Expensive Lawyers

In today’s world odds are good that you will need the services of a lawyer to settle a dispute of some kind. Tempers flare, emotions boil over lawyers viciously attack like a pitbull in a dog fight. Doesn’t look like an easy settlement does it? Letters back and forth, meetings and more accusations and the legal bill rises with your temperature. Emotional ping pong begins, many unwarranted threats and lawyer bullying throwing gas on the fire cre- ating a wedge between people. It is a no wonder that people can’t settle their disputes. Fear makes people do many things and principals cost people money when the other party hangs on to emotional issues. People spend $1,000s of dollars before court begins. Lawyers want retainers to prepay their services. Retainers are often $3,000 to $5,000 before court. Then, many lawyers charge $5,000 to $10,000 to go to court for a trial. The truth is most lawyers don’t go to court at all. They play the letter and meeting game maintaining the costly wedge between the parties. Once a court date is set and a schedule made the court orders a mandatory mediation to settle differences. MOST cases settle in mediation and do not return to the court. Most lawyers won’t tell you that you could just go to mediation FIRST and work on settling differences since you will have to go to court ordered mediation anyways if your case is in the Windsor area. So why go through the costly and ineffective letter writing, accusations, emotional roller coaster and then emotional bitterness? One reason is because lawyers are trained in a winner take all mentality. In many cases the monies involved become eaten up in legal fees that average $300 an hr and up. Anyone that has seen a legal bill will see that every photo copy, every 2 minute phone call is added up and billed on top of any hourly fees they claim they worked. Mediation is different. When parties have differences there is more than a winner and a loser. These are real people with real emotions. Court and legal action leaves bitterness, hurt and often emotional trauma. It is in many cases totally unnecessary. Mediation is all about settling differences with respect and a better understanding of the other party and a mutual understanding that allows for settling with some dignity. Also, in many cases mediation preserves a relationship that existed between the parties. This is no more prevalent than divorces where both parties have to still deal with shared children and each other forever. Mediation before court allows a better understanding of options and if done sooner it has been found to be more effective. It also leaves more money in the pockets of the parents and therefore the children. Business owners involved in litigation can also use mediation successfully to quickly settle and save on legal fees and preserve relationships. We spoke to mediator and professional therapist Rick Saruna of Body & Mind and we asked him about mediation and its benefits. He told us, “Mediation is the way to go if you want to settle fairly, quickly and inexpensively. A recent example is a client that was thinking about divorce and spent over $10,000 without ever going to court but instead decided to make the marriage work. This would not have happened in mediation. I have been a counselor and therapist as well as a mediator for many years and emotional preservation and dignity are important to people and it is important to me. Lawyers come from a winner take all mentality and that does not work with human behavior and it doesn’t always work in court either. Do the right thing and mediate with someone that knows the role of emotions and not just win at any cost. That is just foolish, expensive and emotionally damaging. ” You are free to choose the mediator of your choosing as long as mutually agreed upon. You do NOT need to use a lawyer as your mediator. If you are looking for someone fair that understands people, emotions and believes in a WIN – WIN settlements and not a lawyer then Rick Saruna at Body & Mind is your logical choice. You can reach them at 519948-0078 and their website is www.WindsorMediation.StressFree.net