Personal injury mediation can occur before or after a court action is commenced. Mediation may be mandatory under the Court Rules (personal injury actions commenced in Ottawa must go to mediation) or elective such as in family law disputes. While in a personal injury court action the parties may be required to attend mediation, neither party is bound to come to an agreement. If, however, they do come to an agreement, the agreement reached at mediation will become legally binding.
Since the process of litigation is extremely costly and can take many years to resolve, mediation is now required to be completed at an early phase of the court action. The parties must attend mediation before their case can even proceed to trial.
A mediation is carried out with a trained mediator, usually over a half a day (3 hours) or a whole day (6 hours) in an attempt to bring the parties together and reach agreement on the issues in dispute. The lawyers for each party file with the mediator and exchange with each other a statement of issues setting out the important facts and legal issues of the case and attach any important supporting documents.
Mediation usually occurs in one room with each party presenting their views separately after the mediator gives his opening statement. At some point, the parties usually separate into different rooms and the mediator handles the mediation by going back and forth between the parties trying to find common ground to resolve all the issues between them. If an agreement is reached, the parties agree to cease the litigation and a settlement agreement is signed and adhered to.
Mediation is informal in that you can speak openly since mediations under the Rules of Civil Procedure are confidential (closed mediations). Mediation is a great way to resolve disputes in a civil and expeditious manner at the least expense to the parties.
Ottawa Mediation Services
Ottawa mediation services was formed by the mediators practising at Quinn Thiele Mineault Grodzki LLP, Lawyers and Mediators – Personal Injury Lawyers. We handle all types of mediations, but focus on personal injury mediations and family mediations. Our experienced and skilled roster of mediators are ready to assist you with any conflict resolution needs you may require. Our mediators are trained and listed as court connected mediators with the Ministry of the Attorney General. Our mission is to work with parties who are in dispute (whether out of court or court connected) to resolve their diffrences and move forward with their lives, by providing competent, caring, comprehensive and professional mediation services. We are an affordable alternative to litigation. We are able to assist organizations, businesses, government and families with conflict resolution by offering non adversarial means of resolving conflict. We offer a wide range of conflict resolution services with multiple options to resolving disputes. Some of your questions may be answered by reading the information on this web site. If you have any further questions or want to discuss how mediation can assist you, feel free to contact us in confidence at 613-315-4878 or by e-mail at mquinn@ottawalawyers.com.