Richarte, Duque & Hortelano. Solicitors and Mediators.

RDH have a team of multidisciplinary and specialized mediators to guide you through the process to try to reach the most satisfactory agreement to all parties involved. MEDIATION CAN BE CONDUCTED IN ENGLISH.

Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resoluction (ADR), a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties with concrete effects. Typically, a third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate a settlement. Disputants may mediate disputes in a variety of domains, such as commercial, legal, community, family matters...

The process is private and confidential. Participation is typically voluntary. The mediator acts as a neutral third party and facilitates rather than directs the process.

Mediators use various techniques to open, or improve, dialogue between disputants, aiming to help the parties reach an agreement.

The benefits of mediation include:

• Cost: The mediation process generally takes much less time than moving a case through standard legal channels. While a case in the hands of a lawyer or a court may take months or years to resolve, mediation usually achieves a resolution in a matter of hours or weeks. Taking less time means expending less money on hourly fees and costs.
• Confidentiality: Mediation remains strictly confidential. No one but the parties to the dispute and the mediator(s) know what happened. Confidentiality in mediation has such importance that in most cases the legal system cannot force a mediator to testify in court as to the content or progress of mediation.
• Control: Mediation increases the control the parties have over the resolution. In a court case, the parties obtain a resolution, but control resides with the judge or jury. Often, a judge or jury cannot legally provide solutions that emerge in mediation. Thus, mediation is more likely to produce a result that is mutually agreeable for the parties.
• Compliance: Because the result is attained by the parties working together and is mutually agreeable, compliance with the mediated agreement is usually high. This further reduces costs, because the parties do not have to employ an attorney to force compliance with the agreement.
• Mutuality: Parties to a mediation are typically ready to work mutually toward a resolution.

Mediators are trained in working with difficult situations. The mediator acts a neutral arbiter and guides the parties through the process.