If the parties do not settle during mediation, they can continue their dispute through litigation or any other method available to them. If the parties do settle, they sign an agreement which contains the terms of their settlement and a statement that the agreement is admissible, enforceable, or binding. The settlement can be enforced by the courts. Mediation can be agreed to in advance of any dispute, as part of an enforceable contract. It can also be agreed to when a dispute occurs, after a lawsuit has been filed, or at any time before the dispute has been adjudicated.
Mediation is used in a wide variety of disputes, from civil litigation to school yard disagreements.
It is used for neighborhood disputes, divorces, juvenile dependency, minor criminal offenses, environmental disputes, church disputes, and for myriad other disputes. Med-arb is a process in which the neutral person, by agreement of the parties, first attempts to mediate the dispute to resolution. If the parties do not reach agreement on all of the issues, they arbitrate the remaining issues. The same person who served as mediator acts as arbitrator. The parties must prove their case in arbitration, since nothing that was said in the mediation is part of the arbitration.