MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION

Diane received her mediation certification in 2004 from Lee Jay Berman and other internationally recognized mediators at the Institute for Conflict Management in Santa Monica, California; some of the very best trainers in the alternative dispute resolution arena.  Diane is available to provide mediation and arbitration services in all of the areas she practices.  She firmly believes that mediation or arbitration is the best way to settle most disputes.  During the mediation process, the mediator listens to what each side would like to have accomplished in the case and tries to help the parties reach a mutually agreeable resolution.  Neither side gets everything they want; each side needs to compromise to reach a resolution. The mediation process is much more informal than a trial.  Rules of evidence are not completely followed. You can fashion resolutions that a judge may not have the authority to order. Mediation is a more satisfactory method to solve problems than allowing a judge, a stranger, who may not get to hear why what you want is important to you (for example,  you want an apology), and who may order a completely different resolution that neither side desires.  Mediation avoids the uncertainty of trials and the cost of trials.  Further, there is a non-economic, hard to quantify, cost to trial - there is the emotional cost associated with litigation that is not associated with mediation.

In an arbitration, the process is a bit more formal than in a mediation, but much less formal than a trial.  As the arbitrator, Diane listens to the evidence presented and the arguments advanced by both sides and then renders a decision.

Shadow Lake - Mount Rainier