Mediation in Legal / Compensation Claims
Legal / Compensation Claim Mediation
While people who feel they have suffered a wrong (physical or psychological injury / hurt or a financial loss) at the hands of someone else often want to litigate their claim, and obtain “Justice”, the sad reality of taking your claim to a Court, is that in the majority of cases the primary tool available to a Court in a non-Family Law[1], civil case is the award of an amount of money[2] to the successful party.
At the outset, most people don’t realise that the time between commencing a Court case and obtaining a hearing date and judgment is often more than six months for small claims and often two years or more for larger or more complicated matters.
In NSW Legal Aid is only available for a limited variety of civil matters and then, only if you meet financial criteria and Funds are available.
If you ask a private lawyer to act, most will charge up to $800 (or more) per hour and unless you have a “no win, no fee” arrangement they will usually require an upfront deposit to cover their investigation of the merits of your claim and to provide you with advice on your prospects. As part of that advice, your lawyer should provide you with a likely range of outcomes which a Court would arrive at if the matter goes through to a hearing.
A relatively simple defended claim in the Local Court is likely to cost you more than $10,000 and if you go to the District or Supreme Courts, more than $100,000.
In addition, there is no guarantee that you will win your case. Your worst result may be that 3 years after you went to your lawyer, you have spent many hours worrying about the claim, you have lost it (and perhaps appealed and lost it again) and you are hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Even if you win, you may recover an amount which is much less than you thought you would obtain and you won’t recover all of the money you have paid to your own lawyers.
When you win and obtain judgment for an amount of money from the other party, you are likely only to recover approximately 70% of your own lawyers’ costs.
Your lawyer has certain responsibilities to advise you in relation to the Mediation Process (you can read these in the Guidelines for Lawyers document linked below
Depending on the fees agreement you have with them, you may be personally liable to pay the balance of those costs from your judgment against the other side.
In short, going to Court involves significant risks which are often best mitigated by entering into mediation with the other party in an attempt to obtain a result which is within the range of outcomes which your lawyer has provided to you.
In NSW, the Government has recognised this and, in the Civil Procedure Act, empowered Courts to require parties to attend mediation – whether they want to or not.
[1] Family Law matters also resolve access and other issues relating to children and often the appropriate adjustment of property belonging to the parties.
The earlier in the process you attend mediation, if you can resolve your claim, then the less money you are likely to “throw away” on legal costs which you won’t be able to recover, even if you win.
Venue for Mediation
Mediations in Legal/Compensation Claim matters are often held in the offices of the lawyers acting for one of the participants, but where they do not have suitable accommodation, the parties can arrange to hire rooms from:
The NSW Law Society; or
The NSW Bar Association.
Fees
We charge $2,800 (plus GST) per half day mediation and $4,000 (plus GST) for a full day mediation, inclusive of reasonable preparation and local travel. Our hourly rate is $400 (plus GST) which we will apply if there is a large amount of preparation/reading time required or the parties require pre-mediation conferences. If we are required to arrange rooms, that will be extra and charged at cost. travel by plane, airfares and accommodation (if necessary) will be charged at cost.
Legal/Compensation Claim Resources
Information for Participants in a Legal / Compensation Claim Mediation.
Download the guide here.