Merle Veeroos has become a CEDR Accredited Mediator, having completed the ’gold standard’ Mediator Skills Training at the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR). CEDR accreditation serves as a marker of quality, competence and professional reliability.

A mediator is a neutral facilitator chosen by the parties, who works with both sides to support communication and help them reach a negotiated settlement. Mediation offers significant advantages over litigation:

  • Speed – time savings can amount to years compared with litigation
  • Lower costs – not only financially, but also in terms of time, energy and emotional impact
  • Confidentiality – everything discussed in mediation remains confidential, avoiding the reputational harm that can arise from a public litigation
  • Preservation of relationships – mediation helps protect important relationships, rather than causing further damage through adversarial proceedings
  • Party control – the decision-making stays in parties’ hands. The parties decide whether to mediate, whom to appoint as mediator, what terms to include in any settlement agreement, and whether to walk away at any stage
  • Flexibility – mediation allows for creative, commercially practical solutions that take into account the parties’ broader interests, not just the narrow issues in dispute
  • Voluntary participation – the parties decide whether and on what terms to settle, and resolution reached by agreement is far more likely to be respected than a ruling imposed by a third party

In many disputes, it is well worth considering mediation first. Mediation is particularly effective where the parties need to preserve an ongoing relationship (for example, in contractual disputes, property disputes, or shareholder and partnership disputes, but also in matrimonial property and inheritance disputes). It is equally worth considering mediation where the costs of litigation risk exceeding the value of the dispute itself.

With court proceedings taking more and more time, this could well encourage greater use of mediation in commercial disputes. Mediation offers what businesses need most: speed, flexibility, practicality and confidentiality.