THE
LAW CORNER

WHAT DOES THE LAW CORNER PROVIDE?

The Law Corner can provide pro-bono mediation for low value and non-monetary value disputes, for example:

• Do you have an issue with one of your neighbours who listens to loud music or has parties on a regular basis while you have to get up very early every morning perhaps because you have a young child?
• Are you a small business that ordered a product from another business and this has proven to be faulty, you want this to be corrected while keeping a good trade relationship with the other business?
• Are you a resident in a local area and you take issue with the practices of neighbouring businesses, but you otherwise really like your area and do not want to move?
• Are you an employee in a company and you have a dispute with your employer or your colleagues and again you would like to solve it in a way that you do not feel like leaving the organisation?

If you believe that you have a suitable dispute such as similar to these examples and that the Law Corner can help you to amicably resolve, please click the link to complete an application form and we will be in touch with you as soon as possible to discuss if we can help to mediate your dispute.

WHAT IS MEDIATION?

When you have a current or ongoing/on-off conflict, what comes to your mind in an ideal scenario? – Yes, you want to tell someone about it, and you want that person to hear you and understand you. Ideally what you want next is that the other person involved in the conflict gets to see the conflict from your viewpoint and the conflict gets resolved altogether. You would probably prefer for the solution to be amicable, so that you and the other person can be happy with the solution (Win-Win) and continue to be on good terms with each other.

This is where mediation comes in – it is a guided, voluntary process in which the two parties to the conflict can express their views, are heard by the mediator who then caters to their realities and translates them for the other party so that ultimately both parties can hear and understand each other. When this has been achieved, the mediator supports both parties to find their most suitable solution together. This process ends with an agreement that both parties reach voluntarily.

The mediator is an independent, impartial facilitator bound by confidentiality – this means what you say during mediation cannot leave the room. The mediator makes sure that there are no conflicts of interest. At every stage, you are in charge of your conflict – you are free to leave, and you drive the solution.

‘Litigation’ is the process of resolving disputes by taking legal action through court with a judge and ‘arbitration’ is a similar journey through court but is privately funded. Mediation on the other hand is when a neutral person facilitates a conversation between the parties to help guide them towards a decision that is agreeable to both parties. As a result, mediation often benefits from both parties being able to maintain an ongoing positive relationship as a result of the less adversarial and more collaborative approach to dispute resolution.

OUR MEDIATION TEAM

Laura Vialon leads our mediation practice and is a qualified German lawyer, fluent in English, French and German. She is a certified mediator who did her training between 2017-2018 in Germany at the INeKO institute at the University of Cologne under the supervision of a qualified psychologist.

Her mediation approach is based on the fundamental conviction that everyone has the resources within themselves to solve their own conflicts, every behaviour is at least meant to be helpful and has to be addressed in a respectful way. Her mediation style is influenced by knowledge in emotions and communication, for example non-violent communication (M. Rosenberg).