By Paola Feliz
"See you in court." Does this phrase sound familiar? Of course it does! It's the typical phrase used frequently, and sometimes even cheerfully, when seeking justice, to address a conflict in a typical and common way: through the traditional justice system (judges and courts).
Let's not kid ourselves, we all deal with conflicts every day, and today, in greater numbers, in the turbulent, uncertain, and stressful times of the pandemic we are living through, we have seen major negotiations fall apart, employees sue their companies, buyers sue construction companies, construction companies sue suppliers, partners end long-term relationships, and residential condominiums in constant conflict. I mention these examples as just a small sample.
It's an open secret that in the culture in which we've grown up and developed, confrontations, litigation, and competition are commonplace. From birth, we're taught to beat others, to compete against them, and we repeat these patterns into adulthood.
As a consequence, we pay a very high price, such as the average time it takes to resolve a dispute in our country exceeding 1.5 years; large sums of money spent on legal fees without any guarantee of a winning case; and damage to the company's image due to these public and oral litigation processes, where details of vital importance to the company are brought to light.
Furthermore, there's the irreparable strain on relationships, because as we try to resolve conflicts through harsh strategies that involve little dialogue and negotiation, we create an atmosphere that increasingly separates us from one another.
How can we change this?
All is not lost. Fortunately, we have a powerful tool, little known and used in our country, but which can turn around the conflictive situations that the real estate sector experiences every minute: mediation.
This is an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) method. This approach gained traction in the United States in the 1960s and in Europe in the 1990s, with the aim of reducing the burden on the courts and offering people in conflict an alternative and peaceful way to resolve their differences.
It is a safe space for dialogue, led by a neutral and impartial third party, who serves as a channel and guide for communication between the conflicting parties, to help them build their own solutions, using specific techniques.
Mediation offers powerful benefits:
1. Confidentiality: It is a process that is carried out under the highest standards of confidentiality; everything said in mediation is protected by professional secrecy, which is highly interesting for companies and people who want to keep their affairs under the utmost discretion.
2. It is voluntary: those who participate can decide whether or not to reach an agreement, whether to remain in mediation or abandon this tool and use another strategy to resolve their conflict, such as going to court.
3. Self-composed: no one imposes a solution on those who come to the mediation table, but the solution is found by the mediated parties and is the result of dialogue, exploration and communication that they have in a safe and private environment and with respect.
4. Neutrality: the mediator is an agent, a channel of communication, serves both conflicting parties equally, does not judge, does not criticize the beliefs, values, perceptions of the conflicting parties.
5. Impartiality: the mediator does not favor either side, offering both parties the opportunity to express themselves freely.
It also saves time because it is much shorter compared to a court process. The conflict can be resolved in a two-hour meeting or in three or four meetings of the same duration.
The mediator's fees are significantly lower than the legal fees involved in going to court.
In mediation, nothing is set in stone; if it is necessary to modify the agenda, increase or decrease the number of sessions, it is the decision of the parties and the mediator adapts to it.
The agreements are born from the conflicting parties themselves, tailored to their needs and the product of dialogue established with the help of a mediator, not imposed by a third party, such as a judge, who establishes winners and losers. This represents an advantage because the greater the involvement of the parties in creating the solution, the higher the level of satisfaction.
In conclusion, mediation is a valuable, proven tool with enormous potential for the peaceful resolution of real estate disputes. It offers significant advantages and benefits, while also being a cost-effective and fast method, already tested and widely used with great success in countries such as the United States, Spain, Argentina, and Canada, among others.
I am ready to serve as your mediator and help you turn your conflict around so it stops being a headache. www.mediacion.org , paola@mediacion.org . Phone: 809-995-5188
The author is a Certified Mediator by the College of Psychologists of Costa Rica, holds a diploma in Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods from the Catholic University of Salta, Argentina, and completed the Postgraduate Program in Mediation, Negotiation, and Alternative Dispute Resolution at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She holds a Law degree from UASD (Magna Cum Laude) and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Mediation and Conflict Management.
