There are many benefits to using mediation to resolve a business, real estate or estate planning dispute, many of which you may already know. Mediation can save you time and money compared with traditional litigation, as well as help you maintain your professional relationships.
You probably associate mediation with something you do after a problem has arisen, but mediation can also be used before disputes occur. This is called preventative mediation, which is different from litigation mediation.
Litigation mediation takes place when you have a dispute, and you want to try to resolve the dispute without going to court. But if you have no current disputes, preventative mediation could be a good option for helping you establish solutions for potential future disputes.
What’s the point of preventative mediation?
The purpose of preventative mediation is to address “what if” scenarios. As any business owner knows, running a business is unpredictable and there are a wide range of potential problems that you could encounter at any given time.
An example of where preventative mediation might be a good idea is in cases of business succession planning. If you run a family business, addressing succession issues early and when the business is running smoothly can prevent future family conflict.
Benefits of preventative mediation
One of the main advantages of preventative mediation is that everyone is typically less stressed and in a better frame of mind to think about and address the issues. Even though the intent of mediation is to resolve problems amicably, parties are more likely to be emotional and anxious with traditional litigation, which can hinder the process.
Another benefit to preventative mediation is the time it can save you. By addressing how you will solve a problem, you will already have a solution ready when or if the problem occurs.
You cannot predict future problems, but using preventative mediation can potentially reduce the number of disputes in the future. Talking with an attorney about what subjects would be right for preventative mediation can help.
