Identify the limitation of mediation
Mediation is an outside court resolution of a legal issue between two parties in a legal
dispute with the help of a mediator, who is a neutral third party. The mediation process allows
only the two disputing parties to come up with opinions and make the final decision on their
own. Mediators only outline the issue and coordinate effective orderly communication between
the parties so that they can come into a consensus on a mutually beneficial settlement. Disputing
parties opt for mediation to avoid lengthy court battles, high cost involved in the court legal
processes, or humiliation in emotional legal cases such as divorce. The mediation process
follows certain steps which include; a preliminary meeting or phone call, a joint meeting with
both parties, sessions where the mediator meets with each party individually, an evaluation by
the mediator and an agreement that ends the dispute (Singh, 2012). Cases of contesting a will,
divorces and child custody arrangements, contract disputes between parties and partners
disagreement in a joint business are the most common legal cases that use mediation resolution
to resolve their legal disputes. The parties before engaging in a mediation process evaluate the
possible losses and benefits from the mediation outcome. The mediation process helps in
ensuring a quick settlement of a conflict that enables both parties to resume their duties and
responsibilities. However, there are several limitations that come along with the mediation
process.
The mediation process stands a minimal chance of revealing the truth concerning the
legal dispute between the disputing parties(“Mediation Disadvantages”, 2019). In court, the
attorneys can procure evidence and call witnesses of the dispute, an aspect that is not available in
mediation. This makes it difficult to have an equitable treatment between the two parties in
conflict. The mediation process lacks formal rules giving it a high chance of resulting in an
impasse. It relies on the disputing parties’ cooperation meaning if the conflicting parties refuse to
cooperate the mediation can end in failure. The most common limitation is that the settlement
can’t be fair cause when one party has more resources than the other. It may persuade the other
party to agree to an unfair settlement against their interests. A failure of the mediation process
results in loss of money, time and effort in the process and result in court battles. A mediation
that is unsuccessful leads to a more difficult expensive court battle if one party took advantage of
the other to gather sufficient evidence against it.
