The National Audit Office Report into Family Mediation in 2007, found that mediation was better for families than litigation and was also faster and cheaper than court proceedings:
National Audit Office Report into Family Mediation 2007 (download here)
“Mediation is faster, cheaper and less adversarial than the courts – it is the duty of legal advisers to tell clients about mediation, but they have a financial disincentive to do so and many bypass it.” N.A.O. 2007.
1/3 clients interviewed by the NAO had not been told about mediation by lawyers – of which 40% said they would have tried it.
Mediated legal aid case Non mediated legal aid case
£754 Average Cost £1682
110 Days Duration 435 Days
The N.A.O. concluded the Legal Services Commission should promote mediation. In 2014, the government introduced the compulsory Mediation Intake Assessment Meeting, which had to be undertaken prior to issuing court proceedings for ALL applicants to the family courts. MIAMs are intended to help separating families hear how they can resolve their arrangements in mediation before applying to court. Many people then choose to mediate.
The purpose of MIAMs (to help people avoid the stress, costs and delays of litigation), is being eroded by MIAMs being bypassed wholesale. The courts are failing to enforce the requirement for the MIAM, even though many people attending a MIAM will mediate. Now MIAMs are being subverted into token online processes that do little to fulfil their original purpose of a very worthwhile pre-issue safety net.
The market bias towards court proceedings is faltering and more disputants are coming direct to mediation. They realise that fighting may feel best but it rarely is best. For those who still think they will get a better result at court. The fact is that the reverse is mostly true because:
- In property and financial cases couples often spend more than the value of the difference between them in costs. If the net assets are worth £500,000 and there is a starting point of equal division – and you are likely to spend £20-25,000 each getting to trial – so a tenth of your joint assets on litigation, when only a tenth might be at issue! Money you need to house your family has gone. Mediation fees are likely to be under a tenth of legal costs and mediation is FAST.
- In children cases, litigation turns parents into opponents in an adversarial process which damages their ability to co-parent effectively
- In civil cases people routinely spend more than their cases is worth on costs, e.g. £300,000 costs over a £4,000 dispute over drains in a garden! There is no pre-proceedings requirement to see a mediator in civil litigation, consequently a tiny number of civil cases mediate an agreement, despite costs and time savings
Focus mediators are accredited, experienced and mediation is what we do – day in day out. There are different types of mediation and different ways of working, because one size does not fit all cases. Come and meet us and help us understand your situation and dispute thoroughly – then we can consider together potential routes, timing and options to help you settle matters.