Mediation helped start-up directors find a fast settlement to their deadlocked dispute, saving them legal costs and time

Mediation, as an alternative to litigation or formal arbitration, can often bring about a rapid solution to many construction, property or commercial disputes that could otherwise remain deadlocked in a lengthy and costly process.

I am a senior solicitor specialising in commercial and construction disputes, and also a qualified commercial mediator with 25 years of experience and more than 300 successful mediations to my record.

By using my knowledge and experience in being able to convene and run a series of face-to-face meetings, in a secure, private and confidential environment, I can successfully deliver settlements for complicated disputes.

As an example, I was contacted by a start-up business, owed by three equal shareholders who were all directors of the company, and who had all agreed to run the business on an unanimity basis. 

But as their enterprise took off (and it went viral), differences developed. The three directors were immensely talented, but the business started to lose momentum, as decisions got deferred because they could not agree, and there was no deadlock breaker clause in the shareholder agreement. 

All three had obtained separate legal advice on the way each of them and the company could proceed. It confirmed that the adversarial law system we all operate in this jurisdiction offered no cost effective or positive solutions for them. 

The legal route would have involved three sets of lawyers, the loading of the facts, the building of a blame game, litigation and eventually, after a considerable time delay, a judge making the final call, possibly not until next year.

That was not an option for my clients, despite suggestions from their original lawyers. Instead, they opted for mediation. 

By the Friday afternoon of the week that they instructed me, after five hours of face-to-face mediation, in a series of meeting, at a neutral venue on the banks of the Thames, a deal was done and documented on four sides of A4 paper, dealing with confidentiality, resignation, share transfer, and compensation. 

Only an experienced lawyer mediators can do this. Within a few days the solution had been found, and the three directors could move on relieved that a solution acceptable to all of them had been found and concluded so quickly.

A mediation service that can come up with settlements like this for commercial disputes is available through Reasonable Minds. Please get in touch to find out if we can help you potentially save a lot of time and legal costs by resolving your dispute through mediation.

Christopher Cox, senior solicitor and mediator, specialising in delivering settlements as a mediator in the construction commercial sectors.

Telephone: 07802 540977. E-mail: [email protected].