Mediation

Mediation is one of the main forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution. It can have a great advantage over contentious litigation or disputing claims and issues.

CompareTheSolicitor.com are specialised in recommending ADR to Clients……our main aim
to reduce legal fees and the cost of litigation. This is deemed the best way
to solve issues at lowest cost!

What is Alternative Dispute resolution?

There are 5 main areas for ADR

• Negotiation
• Mediation
• Arbitration
• Conciliation
• Independent Claims Assessment

CompareTheSolicitor.com specialises in this area due to the fact that Alternative Dispute Resolution is in most instances (when done properly) the best way to resolve issues. It is cheaper, quicker, less complicated and has less of a negative effect on your life.

“Litigation and involving lawyers is not only extremely costly, it generally takes over
peoples lives. It is time consuming and can be a great burden upon individuals or companies until the issues or resolved”

We seek to use ADR in the vast majority of cases, from divorce and land disputes to personal injury and contracts.

CompareTheSolicitor.com works closely to the company Independent Claims Assessment Service. This service seeks to resolve issues with parties with minimum of fuss and fall out. As an independent they speak to both sides to get full perspectives of the issues involved. This service is considerably less costly than a disputed litigated case. It can be as lower as 10% of the cost……an invaluable service to society.

It is the view of CompareTheSolicitor.com that Alternative Dispute Resolution should be the first port of call in any potential litigation. In our experience It is best to find resolutions to problems than to become litigious and confrontational.

Negotiation
This is voluntary. It involves no third party and is simply speaking to the other party to try and find a resolution to the conflict. If you are still on speaking terms with the other party it can be a very effective way of sorting the problems or at least finding some common ground. Speak to CompareTheSolicitor.com and we will advise you what you need to think about before entering negotiation.

The Golden Rule for Negotiation is don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and make contact with the other party. We have dealt with cases running in to tens of thousands of pounds in solicitor’s fees that are finally resolved in one phone call to the “opposition” party.

Mediation
Mediation is similar to Negotiation apart from with a third party facilitating the resolution process. They can if necessary give their views on events and may suggest a resolution, but they do not impose a resolution on the parties.

Mediation is an important part of the legal process, it is reasonably cheap but has the downside that it does not always give a conclusion to the case.

Arbitration
Participation is typically voluntary, and there is a third party who acts as a private judge, imposes a resolution. Arbitrations often occur because all parties agree that any future dispute concerning the agreement will be resolved by arbitration. What is given in the arbitration is generally binding. This can be quicker and generally cost much less than the court process.

However, arbitration is still in essence going through a court process and usually both parties have solicitors arguing their case which of course can be very costly.

Conciliation
This is a process whereby the parties to a dispute agree to utilise the services of a conciliator, who then meets with the parties separately in an attempt to resolve their differences. He does this by lowering tensions, improving communications, interpreting issues, providing technical assistance, exploring potential solutions and bringing about a negotiated settlement.

Conciliation differs from arbitration in that the conciliation process, in and of itself, has no legal standing, and the conciliator usually has no authority to seek evidence or call witnesses, usually writes no decision, and makes no award.

Conciliation differs from mediation in that the main goal is to conciliate, most of the time by seeking concessions. In mediation, the mediator tries to guide the discussion in a way that optimizes parties needs, takes feelings into account and reframes representations.

CompareTheSolicitor.com works closes with ICAS as we believe it to be the best possible way of resolving disputes. The ICAS system contacts all parties in the dispute or issue to obtain binding authority for the ICAS council to resolve the matters between the parties fairly, reasonably and cheaply.

Independent Claims Assessment Service

Effectively, the ICAS investigator obtains information from all parties and gives genuine legal advice that is independent of the dispute. Once all necessary evidence and views have been taken the dispute is put before the ICAS Council for them to decide on the matter. Each party will be agreeable to the ICAS judgment and it will be contracted.

Because of the high integrity of the management of ICAS it can work with international companies and can give you binding agreements to assess things such as personal injury accidents and other types of compensation recovery needs. The service is extremely cheap compared to current methods, allowing for all parties to be better off. The motivation of ICAS is to reduce the waste that the current legal system has, ensuring that more money is with the man in the street.

Independent Claims Assessment Service is highly recommended by CompareTheSolicitor.com