Even if one or both parties decide to attend a mediation hearing without counsel, they should get legal advice on how to best present the case and how the process will work. Conn. He is the author of The Human Resources Problem-Solver as well as numerous articles on managed care, legal and practice management issues affecting doctors. Unlike litigation, mediation is conducted in private, informal meetings with minimal paper work. Mediation involves little risk, since a party can walk out at any time and move on to arbitration or litigation. And, since it's a flexible process, mediation can take place before, during or even after other procedures, such as arbitration or litigation, have been employed.
Arbitration is the next level up from mediation.
It is mostly used to avoid costly litigation or when mediation fails to result in agreement. The major risk is that arbitration decisions can almost never be appealed. Arbitration is much more formal than mediation, and each side usually is represented by a lawyer. As in a court case, proper notice to the parties must be given, rules and procedures must be followed, document requests are allowed, witnesses are common, and a stenographer may be hired to transcribe the proceedings. Although this formality drives up costs, some businesses favor arbitration because it's final.