Resources
Mediation Solutions Ireland have strong connections and have people intertwined with three other companies:
Ignite Business Solutions, Clonmel
www.ignitebusiness,ie
Cornmarket Financial Services, Limerick
We have strong office bases in Clonmel and Limerick and have associates in all parts of Ireland. We have both the expertise and the geographic reach to assist you wherever your issue is.
Further resources:
Article by J.J. Killian which appeared in The Nationalist on July 15th and in The Examiner on August 4th:
Have Your Day In Court – Without The Stress!
Many disputes during the Celtic Tiger years were characterised by the concerned parties assembling massive legal teams to go into battle. Whatever the outcome, there was one guarantee – it was going to be long, costly and very stressful. The post-Tiger era is already witnessing a tsunami of proceedings which is putting huge pressure on the Commercial Court – the fees may not be as outrageous as heretofore (the recent comments of the Taxing Master are most welcome) but the stress remains and having your “day in court” is not the fun occasion you imagined. But there is another way, one that is now established in the U.S., Canada, Australia and Britain – it’s known as “Alternative Dispute Resolution” (ADR) but better known as Mediation. Ireland, as usual, lags behind but change in this area is on the way already.
In a mediation process the (qualified) Mediator is a neutral independent person who acts to facilitate the disputing parties in reaching a mutually satisfying settlement. The parties will have (1) agreed to come to the table, (2) be empowered to reach a settlement and (3) have a solicitor with them. Any settlement terms reached can be signed and recorded in an enforceable contract. The Mediator’s role is to help both parties to “get to YES” – this is done by getting both parties to identify their “BATNA” (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) and from there to identify their “ZOPA” (zone of possible agreement). The success rate of this process is very high because the parties are not in a (intimidating) court environment and they retain control over the process as it moves along. Mediation is an efficient and cost-effective way of achieving a fair outcome while still preserving relationships. This process can be employed in any type of dispute, from a divorce settlement to a row over land. Mediation is about to take hold in Ireland because:
- The European Commission’s recent Directive on Mediation in Civil and Commercial Disputes will create a greater awareness of its advantages
- The new MUDS (Multi-Unit Development Bill 2009) Bill will address the problems involving over 500,000 members of apartment management companies, investors and tenants and will require extensive mediation solutions
- Section 6 of the new Enforcement of Court Orders Act 2009 will permit a judge to request creditors or debtors to seek resolution of their dispute through mediation
- The Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 allows a High Court judge to direct both parties in a personal injuries action to attend a mediation conference for the purpose of settling the case out of court
Recent court decisions in Britain have reinforced the view in the legal profession there (and it will come in here) that failure by a solicitor to advise a client on the option of mediation in a litigious dispute could amount to professional negligence. Many of the legal profession are now undergoing training in mediation – I think this is a good move as many of them will accompany clients through the mediation process but I’m less enthusiastic about solicitors acting as mediators – it could result in the (solicitor) mediator scoring points with the solicitors accompanying the parties – this would be detrimental to the whole essence of mediation.
Mediation has been strongly endorsed by the judiciary, public representatives, trade unions and in the McCarthy report – yet many parties in dispute are unaware that there is a cheaper, less stressful and more flexible option. An obvious area where the system is failing is in that of separating couples – in 2006, of approximately 26,000 applications to the family courts, only 3% had any involvement in mediation – I find this extraordinary because in all these cases there was a legal obligation to inform these people of the alternative of mediation. This has to, and will, change.
Mediation is the future – it’s a great alternative to costly litigation, it’s less formal and intimidating, it’s the method chosen by many new statutory bodies to resolve disputes, it’s much quicker and less stressful and it’s cheaper! Remember, it’s all about “getting to YES”.
Fri 15 May 2009
An Exploratory Study of Factors Influencing the Choice of Mediation to Resolve Interpersonal Workplace Conflict
This research examined the factors important in why an employee chooses mediation to resolve a workplace issue such as bullying or harassment. The project was exploratory in nature and used an inductive approach. While the literature about mediation frequently mentions the benefits and advantages conferred by the process, there is little previous direct research about why people in interpersonal workplace disputes refuse the offer of mediation. It was decided that the most appropriate approach for exploratory research in this area was interview and a small sample of people were spoken to for their views. These included three practising workplace mediators, a full-time trade union official, a human resource manager and two direct subjects, one of whom had taken part in a mediation and the other who had agreed to take part but had not yet begun the process. It had been intended to interview more direct bullying subjects but access proved to be difficult. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed, the responses were analysed and the factors distilled from the responses. The factors were grouped into three main areas as follows: Informational (provided by the organisation, from others, from previous experience) Intentional (what do the parties intend – resolution or revenge ?) Institutional (how forceful the employing organisation is in promoting the use of mediation).
Download the document (Schutte_Synopsis.pdf)
