Advantages And Disadvantages Of Environmental Mediation

By Scott Sullivan


Negotiation is an informal way of resolving conflicts among parties that disagree. It provides the disagreeing persons an opportunity to engage and come up with workable solutions. Find some of the advantages of environmental mediation and a few disadvantages it is associated with.

Compared to the expenses incurred in a typical lawsuit, mediation is way less expensive. Generally, it costs a lot of money to hire good lawyers for parties to any legal battle. This makes this technique the best option to people who want to resolve disputes without spending a fortune. Further, there are many non-profit organizations that provide the services free or charge or at a small fee.

The approach is relatively simple. With mediation, there are no complex procedures designed to be followed by the parties. The setting is normally informal and everyone feels free to discuss intimate issues openly. These open engagements that are informal allow people to be more open. Rather than focusing on the procedures, the mediator is able to focus on the interests of the conflicting parties.

The technique is highly confidential. There are no records kept regarding the dispute for future reference unlike in court cases. In addition, all the evidences introduced to allow for the amicable resolution of the conflict are discarded. This in itself makes it one of the best methods of resolving conflicts between parties. People who use it also feel more powerful for being able to settle their own disagreements.

Negotiation is the best approach that can be used to restore and preserve relationships. This is a benefit that should not be overlooked, as it cannot be achieved through litigation. Court battles have a way of destroying personal and business relationships almost permanently. However, mediation uses collaborative approaches to resolve issues. In this way, parties leave the process happy to have found a settlement.

Through mediation, better results are often achieved. Litigation takes the adversarial route meaning there has to be a party that loses. However, under the technique in question people report feeling more satisfied with the agreed resolutions. This is because there is no admission of fault and all the settlements are mutually agreed on. In addition, those who are subject to the case feel more in control of the outcome.

Workable and easily implementable decisions are reached upon. Because the conflicting persons are involved, they are able to come up with resolutions they can implement. Negotiated approaches include ways in which agreements are to be carried out. This increases the chances of the affected complying with the settlement terms. This ensures that the agreements entered into hold up over time due to the cooperative nature of the technique.

There are a few downsides to mediation that are worth considering. First, there is no guarantee that the parties will get to an agreeable settlement. In some cases, they may still find themselves headed to the courts. Negotiation also does not provide a formal discovery process and there is absolutely no way of compelling the parties to reveal vital details to a case.




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