Mediation
Mediation and Collaborative law are new, innovative methods of striving towards out-of-court, alternative settling of disputes.
Mediation:
Court procedures are often quite expensive and inordinately long.
Mediation, on the other hand, is an out-of-court procedure in which the mediator acts as a neutral third party without any power of decision for the disputing parties in order to aid and promote a conclusion to the dispute.
The role of the trained mediator consists of supporting the parties in defining problem areas, interests and objectives in particular, as well as furthering common solutions by uncovering new possibilities to terminate the conflict. The goal is to conclude the mediation through a legally binding agreement of the disputing parties.
A conflict which has been solved, i.e. resolved, permits further collaboration between the disputing parties. Mediation is suitable especially in areas where human relationships dominate, and their continuation is in the interest of both parties. Thus, it is suitable for:
- conflicts between companies
- internal conflicts within companies between partners, in management, in mergers, etc.
- labour conflicts
- rental conflicts
- inheritance conflicts
- divorces, etc.
Mediation means being oriented towards the future and seeking solutions in which there are no losers.
Collaborative Law:
Collaborative Law begins with the voluntary commitment of the disputing parties to seek, together with their respective lawyers, a common solution to their problem by means of out-of-court agreement. Similar to the principle of mediation, although in this case without a mediator, these talks are conducted to expose and discuss the background of the conflict and the interests and objectives of the parties concerned, in an effort to attain better results more suitable to both parties interests more quickly than would be possible in a court context.
The participating lawyers are specially trained and bear the responsibility for the ongoing process of the talks; nonetheless, each represents the interests of his own client. The lawyers in the collaborative law process assume an obligation, agreed upon with their respective client, under no circumstances to represent that client in court, in case no agreement through collaborative law is reached.
Experience has shown that this obligation is a great motivation to reach an agreement. Thus, nearly all collaborative law process have been successfully brought to a close.
