Want To Save Some Money? Mediate

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

It's time to save money. Tax season is here. Half of everyone I know is out of work or had to suffer some kind of a cut back in time or compensation.

So, what about you? You own, run, operate or manage a business or some aspect of a business. Chances are, if you know me or read this blog regularly, you use (whether voluntarily or otherwise) attorneys. So, what can you use me for to help save you money? Sounds like the Buddhist question to enlightenment, right? What is the sound of one hand clapping?

It's actually a little easier than you think. Too often, clients come to me when the problem has already surfaced, when it's become fetid and the fighting has already started. By then, you've already resigned yourself to the fact that your money is about to become my money. If only there were a way to see this coming....

There is, sort of. You can never predict the future and you can never know exactly where things are going to go wrong. But you do know that, if you have to litigate over any situation, it's going to be expensive. Okay, it's going to be very, very expensive. So, knowing that, why not try to control the length, depth and expense of the dispute resolution mechanism?

Here's how to do it - have a pre-litigation mediation clause included as part of your contracts. Such a clause requires the disputing parties to go to mediation before anyone can file suit. Sounds stupid? Sounds like an extra step? The answer to the first questions - it is not. The answer to the second - it can be the only step, if done properly.

Well over 90% of all cases end up settling before trial. So, less than one in 10 suits will ever go to trial. In the business litigation world, that number is even smaller. In the end, business-minded people run cost/benefit analyses and figure out where and how to settle their disputes. It often comes down to dollars and practicality.

So, why not include a provision in your agreements that provides that everyone has to attend a sitdown before they start drawing guns? A double-digit percentage of cases resolve at mediation. So, why not skip the lawsuit, the fighting, the multiple meetings, the deposition and the document production and see if there isn't some way for everyone to come up with a business solution first instead of as the last resort?

Don't get me wrong, I like what I do and I like litigation. But there will always be lawsuits that presuit mediation cannot prevent. Hopefully, you will not have one of those situations. Try it. You might find that holding on to your money feels good.