About American Mediation Board Advantages

There are several major advantages of the American Mediation Board compared with litigation in Civil or Common Law Court.

Types of Cases Handled:
The American Mediation Board is sometimes referred to as the layperson's court. The Board handles cases which both disputants want quick resolution in private avoiding the high financial cost of lawyers and court fees. Civil/Common Courts normally handle high profiled cases involving large monetary settlements, punitive damages and precedent law.

Conflict Resolution Method:
Civil/Common Courts uses an adversarial approach pitting plaintiff and defendant against one another with the unspoken intent to discredit the other party's creditability and integrity. Business and personal relationships are harmed in this win - lose contest. The American Mediation Board procedure, also known as mediation and arbitration, is designed for disputants who want to preserve their business and personal relationships. The disputants are encouraged to mutually decide the best way to settle their current disputes. Generally, both disputants save 'face' and leave the conflict resolution procedure in a much better state of mind than previously existed in their relationship.

Representation:
The American Mediation Board has easy access for both businesses and individuals. Disputants represent themselves without having to incur the additional cost of lawyer representation. You do not need to be a legal expert to represent yourself at the American Mediation Board.

Civil/Common Courts has a controlled access system. Plaintiff and Defendant known as disputants must hire lawyers and attorneys to represent their positions and interests in front of a Judge and/or /jury. This high cost of entry makes it financially very difficult for small businesses and individuals to resolve their disputes.

Court Dates:
The American Mediation Board can be schedule formal meetings between disputants within days or weeks of filing a "Request for Conflict Resolution". Civil/Common Courts are over burdened and backlogged. Court dates are scheduled months or years in advance. Duration of trial litigation can be lengthy.

Justice:
American Mediation Board Justice is swift and predictable. Structured Settlements, also known as resolutions, are mutually decided by the disputants themselves. These resolutions are transcribed into a legal enforceable document. Civil/Common Court Justice is slow and unpredictable. The Judge and/or Jury controls your destiny. Both Plaintiff and Defendant are required to abide by the court decision even when injustice has occurred.

Cost:
The American Mediation Board costs are known in advance and are predictable. Generally, both disputants equally share the Conflict resolution procedure expenses. Civil/Common Court legal fees are unknown. Legal costs are high and unpredictable. The losing party may be forced to pay winning party's attorney fees and court fees.

Confidentially:
All proceedings of the American Mediation Board are strictly confidential with no public access. Disputants have privacy to settle their current conflicts without media scrutiny. Civil/Common Court cases are public with open access to media, friends, co-workers and business competitors.

Precedent:
With American Mediation Board, the disputants have flexibility and freedom to be creative a mutually agreeable resolution / settlement without having to follow or conform to statutory codes and judicial precedents. In Civil/Common Court the Judge and Jury must follow precedents established by case laws and judicial systems. Disputants have little freedom of choice to settle their differences in a fashion they deem equitable in order to preserve their future relationship.

Legal Binding and Enforceable:
American Mediation Board resolutions / settlements are legal binding and enforceable. They have the same enforceability as decisions issued by the Civil/Common Court system.

Appeals Process:
The American Mediation Board's structured resolutions / settlements are reached through voluntary decision-making. Disputants are not forced into reaching a decision that does not satisfy their interests.  If no resolution is reached, disputants retain the option to have a decision decided by arbitration or in Civil/Common Court. However, in most cases, when disputants are given the opportunity to express their position and feelings in a safe neutral environment, this opens the way for a mutually agreed settlement. In Civil/Common Court once a decision is issued by a Judge or Jury it is considered final and binding. Disputants lose their right to mediation and arbitration. Appeals to Civil/Common Court decisions are possible, however they will be just as expensive and time consuming as the original court trial.

Relationships:
The American Mediation Board approach to dispute resolution is non-adversarial. Disputants meet voluntary with the shared focus to create a settlement to resolve their differences and to preserve their relationship. Civil/Common Court utilizes a hostile adversarial confrontation method. Plaintiff and Defendant are positioned against each other with the I Win- You Lose mindset.

Stress and Health:
American Mediation Board mediators are trained in mediation, conciliation, arbitration, group meeting facilitation and win-win negotiation skills along with stress management and positive psychology techniques. The American Mediation Board provides the disputants with high procedure control and high decision control with ownership in deciding the outcome.

Civil/Common Court confrontation under any situation is very stressful and damaging to our health, finances and to family/social relationships. Disputants have very little control in the judicial procedure and subsequent court decision. The surrender of control creates enormous stress on both disputants, their families and friends; and negatively affects our overall health.

To learn more about the American Mediation Board Procedures, please click here