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What Are Community Mediation Services?

Thursday, April, 28, 2011


Community mediation services involve the participation of a mediation attorney to help parties resolve disputes.  The two parties may be neighbors arguing over a fence line, parents who disagree with school board policies, or any other community members who have some point of contention with one another.

 

How Community Mediation Services Improves Local Areas

 

The United States is a place where many people think immediately of lawsuits as their only recourse when a dispute arises.  The simple fact is that lawsuits are often not the most advantageous way to proceed.  Not only is the court system notoriously slow and expensive, it also uses a process that is antagonistic by nature.  This is of special concern to community groups, who will have to live for years or decades in close proximity to those on the other side of the dispute.  The bad blood that a court case can leave behind is rarely in the best interests of a community.

 

By using conflict mediation instead, the parties can be assured of a confidential, private dispute resolution in which the mediation attorneys involved will seek to clarify each party’s interests so that an amicable solution can be found.  When performed correctly, mediation is not an antagonistic process but one that remains respectful of the participants involved.  This respect begins with its entirely voluntary nature.