Mediation – Costs, Case Law and Consequences If you have offered mediation and received a rejection from your opponent, or if your client wishes to reject an offer of mediation, there could be significant costs consequences that flow from an unreasonable rejection.

Mediation is, as we know, throughout ultimately an entirely consensual process. The parties are free to halt the Mediation at any time during the Mediation or before. That said as part of the preparation for the Mediation and the “big day” it is very wise to consider the structure and features not only of any possible settlement but of the settlement documentation. Indeed preparing and discussing with your client and advisers draft settlement documentation in all but the simplest of disputes (and even then) is highly recommended and very informative.

There has been a considerable debate in recent times about the usefulness of a joint meeting, with many advisors feeling that they do not add anything to the parties’ knowledge and delay the meaningful negotiations on the mediation day. If joint sessions are used simply to recite the pleadings, then that is possibly true, however if the parties fully engage with the possibilities a joint meeting offers, then they can be very powerful in facilitating an early settlement.