Mediation and Arbitration in Georgia (Alternative Dispute Resolution)
Many people in the metro-Atlanta area turn exclusively to the courts to solve business disputes and overlook other forms of effective alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation and arbitration. A pro to using mediation or arbitration is that resolutions can be reached much faster than in the court system, whereas a con is that the parties will have to pay for the time of third-party neutral (mediator or arbitrator), as opposed to a judge who does not charge for his services.
Mediation is designed to allow the parties to reach their own agreement in a confidential environment. This is a huge advantage over the court system, where the parties have no control over the ultimate ruling of the judge aside from presenting their cases. Instead, mediation is a cooperative process where the parties (and their attorneys) meet with a mediator who helps them work toward a settlement. The mediator effectively guides the parties through the process by assessing each party’s position, pointing out how the dispute would likely play out in a court of law and keeping communication open between the parties. The mediator does not represent either party, and all possible settlements and issues discussed between the parties are not admissible in a court. It is a testament to this form of alternative dispute resolution that many courts encourage mediation, including the courts of Gwinnett County, which publish a list of approved mediators online.
Arbitration is more similar to the court system than mediation. In this process, the parties select one or more arbitrators to act as judges in resolving their disputes. These arbitrators are usually experts and/or attorneys practicing in a specific legal area, which can be beneficial to the parties if the dispute is of a technical or specialized nature. The parties work with the arbitrators to determine how they want the arbitration process to unfold, including the time period and what procedures they want to use in conducting discovery and hearings. Ultimately, the parties present their cases to the arbitrators, who then issue a decision and determine the outcome. Though it is possible to conduct a non-binding arbitration, it is more common to see binding arbitration.
