This is the second in a series of articles about mediation advocacy. The first article, “Evaluating the Dispute Resolution Clause in Mediation,” which appeared on Feb. 10, addressed contractual dispute mediation clauses, including a review of the important elements of the provision and what to do if any of those elements are missing. The article presented a hypothetical scenario in which the parties, Widgetronics and DesignMetrics, entered into a contract containing a dispute resolution clause and became embroiled in a dispute over Widgetronics’ alleged wrongful termination of the contract.
But what if a contract lacks a dispute resolution clause? Or perhaps the contract contains a provision that is ambiguous, or one that, for some other reason, may no longer suit the parties’ needs. How can parties determine what dispute resolution process to use for their dispute? Consider the following list of factors in evaluating the suitability of mediation for resolving a dispute.
