One of the key advantages of mediation is the ability to be heard by a neutral party genuinely interested in the facts and arguments giving rise to the dispute. Allowing the parties to tell their story to someone who is listening and empathetic to their problem is central to successful mediation.

When parties come to mediation, they have already had some back and forth with each other. Often each side recognizes that both parties have vastly different views on the facts, the law and how to resolve the dispute. They know they are not going to convince the other side of the merits of their position. Nevertheless, often each side continues to bombard the other side with missives on how wrong their position is. That, of course, gets the parties nowhere. More often than not, the “litigation by email” causes each party to retrench even further.