Although there are hundreds of thousands of laws on the books, many types of common disputes simply do not raise a legal claim that you can take to court. Disputes between family members, employees or neighbors are sometimes of this type. Fortunately, mediation is available even when courts are not. For example, suppose a suburban homeowner finds that he has no legal recourse regarding lights around a neighbor's driveway that shine in his bedroom window. This may include family members, co-workers or business partners, your landlord, neighbors or others with whom you have a continuing personal or business relationship.
Lawsuits polarize and ultimately ruin relationships.
A huge advantage of mediation is its ability to get a dispute resolved without destroying a relationship. One of the drawbacks to going to court is that, by and large, everything said or submitted in connection with a lawsuit becomes available to the public. So whether your desire is to protect trade secrets or just to avoid washing your dirty laundry in public, your privacy will be substantially greater with mediation rather than litigation. Two small businesses squibbling over customer lists. Divorced parents trying to agree on child custody and visitation.