Mediation offers a less formal and more efficient process for resolving business disputes than conventional litigation. With the efforts of counsel and the mediator, the parties may be able to achieve more creative outcomes than those available in the binary win/lose bottom line of court cases, while potentially salvaging important business relationships. In a straight-forward controversy involving just two parties, mediation may proceed either because the parties made a pre-dispute agreement to mediate any issues or because the parties and counsel have agreed to enter the mediation process. Once the process has begun, discussions ensue, suggestions for resolution are made, proposals are exchanged, and, hopefully, an agreement is reached and reduced to a binding writing. This straight-forward process becomes more intricate when there are multiple parties to the dispute.