Mediation Saves Money

By Gary Cash

Countless people with tort and contract disputes, domestic disputes, and corporate law cases have turned to alternative dispute resolution over the last few years. In that time, the number of people seeking mediation to reach agreement has been on the rise, and with good reason. Put simply, litigation is expensive. Beyond the court costs, which are usually only around $100, an experienced lawyer will charge somewhere between $300-$400 per hour for quality legal counsel. Where this gets tricky is in the amount of hours that it takes to provide that quality legal counsel. 

In some respects, you can think of your attorney like a translator: one of his jobs is to pluck all of the relevant information out of your side of the story, parse it, and relay it to the judge in a convincing manner. This is not a particularly easy task, or we wouldn’t require lawyers in the first place. In addition to presenting that pertinent information that you have offered, your attorney has to research to find any extra evidence, as well as any laws or codes which may help your case. All of this is necessary because, in a courtroom, your case won’t simply break down into a black-and-white picture of whose argument is more valid. In short, you are under attack and your attorney is effectively your judicial body guard. Since you want the person protecting you to be well prepared, you must allow time for that preparation, which means money.

Alternative dispute resolution is a far less adversarial approach to solving legal problems. It is less time consuming and is therefore inexpensive, by comparison. The Mediation parallels to a regular court trial generally boil down into something more financially and emotionally manageable. For instance, instead of a courtroom—which you would “rent” for around $100—your mediation will take place in an office or venue of your choosing which requires no “rental” fee.  Parties to mediation do not necessarily have to have legal representation, either. Even if they do choose to hire an attorney, the number of hours the attorney spends preparing are greatly reduced because the parties speak directly to the Mediator, who acts as an impartial facilitator, rather than having counsel litigate and “translate.”

In Mediation, the same witness testimony and evidence is presented as would be in a court trial, so it’s just as efficient in weighing claims; the difference is that, since both parties are agreeing to be forthright and cooperative, those bits of relevant information are presented in an environment that doesn’t necessitate the actual witnesses or the resources that would generally be used to collect evidence. Skipping these steps, which are only really necessary in more combative situations, saves time and resources, which translates into a much smaller dent in your wallet.

At Fisher Stark Cash, we are proud to have an attorney on our team who has over thirty years of experience as a legal professional, including twenty-five years of experience as a North Carolina District Court Judge. As a mediator, Gary Cash has the expertise, principles, and compassion to help you resolve your commercial and domestic disputes with the fairness you deserve.  If you are facing legal troubles and think that Alternative Dispute Resolution may be the best route for you, contact our office at (828) 505-4300 for a consultation.

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