What is the value of your dispute? What is your friend willing to pay/offer? How much can you obtain in small claims court? What will it cost you to file a claim? Will you hire an attorney? If you have a contract, will you end up paying more to enforce the contract than it is worth?
How much time do you think a judge will give you and your friend to bicker in the court room? What will you do if the judge tells you to go out in the hall and work it out? When your friendship took on another dimension did you discuss how you would resolve a business dispute? Did you consider if a financial dispute does not kill your friendship that litigation surely will?
Mediation allows friends in dispute to maintain a relationship and in many cases repair it. There are no two people more qualified to debate and resolve the issues of your conflict, than you and your friend. Mediation, unlike litigation is a confidential process. In a court room any one can enter and listen. Mediation is voluntary. Should you and your friend not resolve your dispute in mediation, you have the right to litigate in court, where a stranger (judge) will decide the outcome of your dispute.
In my Maryland mediation practice, mediations are scheduled in a safe, peaceful environment, in two-hour sessions. The fee for mediation is split equally between the parties in dispute. A mediator is a neutral third party, who does not decide which party is right or wrong, or who wins or loses. A mediator assists people in dispute rationally and respectfully discuss the issues in dispute, possible solutions, and negotiate a resolution to the dispute. You and your friend can control your destiny and each walk away with at least some of what you want. If, and when, you litigate a dispute in court, one of you will leave a total loser. Who it is may unfortunately surprise you.
