Mediation, with a certified Mediator, who is lawyer with a background also as an experienced licensed professional civil engineer, is a highly targeted way of resolving complex disputes mingled in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industries. Court rules and a strong desire for settlement often require parties and their lawyers to consider the suitability of mediation, both before litigation has started and during its process. Mediation can also be strategically and innovatively employed as a form of “real time” dispute resolution on ongoing projects with lingering disputes.
Unlike judgments, the outcome of mediation is always within the control of the parties. Hence, questions posed from a combined legal and technical background often facilitates the desired targeted discourse towards a cost effective, creative and confidential solution for the parties. Such unique solutions are eventually obtained through probative questions carving out pertinent technical facts in the midst of the legal issues encompassing the disputes.
Mediation from this unique prospective also brings new and independent energy to stalled negotiations. It explores how parties are willing to move from entrenched positions by identifying the real issues at stake between them, their concerns, and their needs for resolution. Mediation is less expensive anyway than arbitration and litigation – because the process facilities much quicker, targeted solutions preferred by the parties, and consequently results in lower fees.
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