Introduction

Contracts are omnipresent in the life of people and business. People and businesses engage in contractual relations with various parties in order to successfully conduct operations. Such parties may include employees, contractors, vendors, and other businesses. Also, internal contracts between partners and shareholders typically exist, too. 

When entering in a business contract, one should keep all options open, including the risk of dealing with disagreements or disputes occurring from that contract. When a business dispute exists, the repercussions of that dispute can be significant, leading to loss of profits or customers, wasted resources, and a tarnished reputation. 

Mediation is not a „nice to have” approach for resolving a business contract dispute, but a „must have” one. It provides for a private, safe and confidential space to discussing views regarding contract related issues with the support of the mediator – a professional third party, independent, neutral, objective and with no power to make any decisions.

At the end of the day, using mediation to resolve contract related disputes should be a business decision taken after assessing the legal, financial and strategic impacts of the uncontained dispute. 

What is mediation

But what exactly is mediation and how does a typical mediation process look like? 

Mediation is a confidential process of communication and negotiation that is managed by a neutral and impartial professional with no decision-making abilities, the mediator. The aim is to prevent, manage, resolve or end a dispute, thus avoiding the increase of tensions, costs and risks, generated even by taking it in the courts of law. Mediation gives all participants the opportunity to craft the rules that govern the dialogue process, to have a voice, to present their perspectives and to propose options that take into account what is most important to them.

In order to achieve these objectives, the mediator can meet jointly but also separately with the participants in the mediation. Also, in order to ensure all the conditions for an informed decision, the parties are encouraged to be advised in the mediation room by lawyers or other advisors. They have an essential role and become veritable agents of reality in mediation.

Specialized mediators

All our mediators are seasoned professionals with solid knowledge, skills and certified experience in the dispute resolution field. Yet, some of the ADR Center Romania mediators are specialized.

To see a list our mediators specialized in mediating disputes based on contracts, click here.