Boyd Carter

The law requires you to consider alternative ways to resolve disputes rather than just by going to Court. If you unreasonably refuse to mediate and just start Court proceedings against someone instead, then there is a significant risk that the Court will not allow you to recover any or all of your legal fees - even if you win the case!

Consequently, in the majority of cases, especially where both parties hope to maintain an on-going relationship, for example, in a family or neighbour dispute or when two organisations want to continue to trade with each other after overcoming the present difficulty, mediation is more likely to help you achieve a result that all parties will be happy with rather than you letting a 3rd party (a Judge) decide an outcome that may not be acceptable to anyone.