Just because you are currently embroiled in a B2B dispute does not mean that you will necessarily end up in court. In fact, it is usually better for savvy business owners to avoid the courtroom if at all possible. Going to court is expensive and will take your attention away from running your business.
This is where forms of alternative dispute resolution can be useful. One form of alternative dispute resolution is mediation. Mediation cases are informal and private and can help resolve disputes without relying on legal judgments that a jury or a judge issues.
What can I mediate?
So long as your dispute is not criminal in nature, you can attempt to mediate it. Mediation cases are very common in disputes between business partners or mild agreements with third-party entities.
A mediator does not act like a judge in the same way that an arbitrator might. Instead, a mediator will guide a conversation between the disputed parties in hopes that the parties can come up with an acceptable resolution on their own.
What are some advantages of mediation?
The first two major advantages to mediation are cost and time. With successful mediation, you will spend less money and far less time on your dispute as compared to taking that dispute to court. Furthermore, you will also have more active say in the resolution of the dispute.
Whereas arbitrators and judges issue rulings that you must comply with, in mediation you are the one actively negotiating and agreeing upon a remedy. If you want to save your money and keep control, mediation is a wonderful option for dispute resolution.