VIDOK avocats

Mediation

As an alternative to litigation, parties may have an interest in initiating mediation.

Mediation may have been provided for in a contract, by a mediation clause. Alternatively, it can be entered into by the parties after a dispute started.

The initiative can come from:

One of the parties who decides to "activate" the mediation clause contained in the contract, which requires the parties to first try to resolve a dispute via mediation.
From both parties: mediation can be used in the absence of a contractual clause providing for it in the event of a dispute.

Mediation can be used in many types of dispute, including:

Disputes between private individuals (neighbour disputes, property disputes, divorce, etc.);
Commercial disputes (between customers and suppliers, service providers, agents, etc.);
Disputes in a professional context (between employers and employees, between employees, etc.);
Real estate disputes (between co-owners, landlords and tenants, with an association of co-owners...).

Mediation proceedings can start at any time: before or during a trial.

The advantages of mediation include:

Mediation allows to reach a solution promptly, at reasonable cost and involve the parties in the resolution of their dispute. The results are all the more accepted.
It (re) establishes a productive dialogue between the parties, allows to identify the most suitable solution, works towards improving the parties’ relationship in the long term and parties can choose how the agreement reached is to be enforced.
It does not have the confrontational nature of a trial: with mediation, there is neither a loser nor a winner; mediation favours the continuity of relationships, which is often essential for companies, especially when commercial relationships will continue after the dispute is resolved.
Confidentiality is guaranteed. Even if mediation fails, the statements and documents used in the process cannot be disclosed to third parties, nor invoked in court without the consent of the parties.
It spares the unpredictability of a trial’s outcome, costs and timeframe.

Mediation is particularly suitable to the following types of cases:

Disputes relating to a disagreement between parties to a contract
Disputes between people who will continue collaborating after the dispute is resolved
Disputes based on a misunderstanding or a breakdown in a relationship
Mediation allows to avoid unfair solutions, disproportionate or inappropriate outcomes, the mediator aiming for a win-win solution
When there is a disproportion between the object of the dispute, the litigation costs, the estimated timeframe and the unpredictability of legal proceedings
When the aim is to re-establish dialogue between parties
When parties seek a mutually accepted solution, which will be easier to enforce

Why choose a lawyer as a mediator:

Lawyers are the only professionals who offer guarantees in terms of ethics, confidentiality, responsibility and whose costs are agreed in advance by reaching a fee agreement.

As legal and litigation professionals, we can effectively assist you in legal proceedings and an alternative form of dispute resolution, such as mediation.

Our team is able to assist you during the entire mediation process, in particular Maître Olivia GAST who is a trained and experienced lawyer, mediator and arbitrator.

Our mediators

Par Maître Olivia GAST qui justifie de la formation (diplôme universitaire 1&2) et de l’expérience idoines en sa triple qualité d’avocate, de médiateure et d’arbitre certifiée.

par Julie Fritsch, ancienne avocate, consultante et titulaire du certificat à la pratique de la médiation en entreprise délivré par l'Institut Français de la Médiation

There are two limits to confidentiality:
1) When it conflicts with public interest, the best interest of a child, or the physical and mental integrity of a person ;
2) When breaking confidentiality is necessary to enforce the agreement reached.