Mediation

Mediation is an informal, voluntary method of resolving disputes, in which the parties in conflict meet with a trained, independent third party to come up with a solution that's satisfactory to everyone involved.

For example, if you have a problem with your broker that you can't resolve directly with the firm, you can file a request for mediation with NASD, which oversees brokerage firms and has over 900 trained mediators to help resolve disputes.

Mediation is considered less expensive, less formal, and less confrontational than arbitration or lawsuits. But both parties must agree to use the process.

While you may retain a legal adviser during mediation, any resolution will be crafted with your direct involvement, which is usually not the case with arbitration.

Also, unlike arbitration, mediation is nonbinding, which means that if you're not happy with the outcome, you can stop the process, and either drop the issue or move to more formal proceedings.

The attempt to settle a court action through active participation of a third party (mediator) who works to find points of agreement and make those in conflict agree on a fair result. Mediation does not always result in a settlement. There are mediators available at most of Housing Court’s first appearance calendars. See also the entry for Pre-Filing Mediation for ways to save the cost of the filing fee.

A form of alternative dispute resolution in which the parties bring their dispute to a neutral third party, who helps them agree on a settlement.

A process within the communications management network that acts on information passing between network elements (NEs) and operating systems (OSs) via a data communication network. Mediation uses standard interfaces and can be shared among several NEs, or several OSs, or between NEs and OSs. [T1.201-1987] [T1.204-1988]