Parties who use ADR learn valuable skills to help them address future conflicts more creatively. Mediated cases usually are settled in less time than litigated cases, and both parties can achieve considerable cost and time savings. Even people who believe they could win a court case sometimes prefer to mediate rather than incur court costs and lawyers' fees, which could swallow a large part of any award received. With the exception of some disputes involving public interest, mediation is considered to be private and confidential. Pursuant to California's Civil Action Mediation Act and other California laws, all communications and documents, including work notes made and used during mediation, are confidential and cannot be used in a court of law should there be subsequent litigation.
Mediation currently is used to resolve disputes in a wide variety of settings.
Whether the dispute is between students, neighbors, family members, businesses, or parties to an accident, whether it involves a claim, governmental agencies, or nations, the mediation process is an effective tool for achieving solutions by mutual agreement rather than by court order. Conciliation Conciliation is an informal process in which an agreed-upon neutral third party is asked to investigate a dispute, usually one involving complex or technical issues. Conciliation is voluntary and private. The third party meets with the parties to the dispute at separate times, analyzes the disputed facts, and issues his or her findings in a nonbinding report or recommendation. This process may be useful especially in handling sensitive internal disputes, such as an allegation of discrimination within a company.