Master in Chambers

Mediation is a “without prejudice” meeting to help the parties in a lawsuit resolve the issues and compensation without a trial. The parties (the plaintiff, or injured party, and the defendant, or person who caused the accident) hire a trained mediator (a neutral third party), who is highly experienced in handling personal injury cases or insurance matters. Some mediators are former judges.

The mediator may use various approaches to try to get the parties to resolve the lawsuit such as

• “interest-based” mediation, which focuses more on the interests of the parties
• “evaluative” mediation, which focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of the case for the plaintiff and the defendant,

Mediation is informal and usually occurs at a lawyer’s office or through video conferencing. Mediation is effective when the parties are not far apart on the issues and when an evaluative approach is not required. Mediation is one form of Alternative Dispute Resolution.