Companies Advantages

Many CEOs, responsible for HR and managers know that disputes with clients, furnishers, partners and employees are a natural part of any company activities. The conflicts themselves don't represent a problem for the companies but it's their lack of ability in managing them that can create problematic situations. Conflicts can't be ignored or delegated in toto to legal advisers. In fact, in the conflicts are left out, they can cause long and expensive disputes, breaking of commercial relations, discredit on the market, labour dispute, hostility in the staff. In the worst cases, they can even cause long and expensive judicial or arbitral procedures.

It's proved that the majoriy of the civil procedures end before the delivering of a sentence and that many matters are solved, through mediation, before the beginning of the trial. Once that the action starts, the parts understand they have spent time and energy without reaching any solution. They prefer to come back to their business so they try to close the dispute with a compromise. Managers and legal advisers who work in big companies highlight some fundamental reasons for the development of ADR procedures and their advantages.

The possibility for the parts to monitor the procedure and the results gained, in contrast with the risk and the uncertainty of the judgement and the arbitration
Structuring of the procedure for the managing and the resolution of the conflict
Confidentiality
More communication between the parts
Removal of problems concerning cultural differences
Consideration of commercial and technical problematic delle problematiche commerciali e tecniche
Money and time saving
Creative and long lasting solutions
Manteinance of relations between the parts

Comparison between risks and benefits. The benefits and the advantageous potentialities in the mediation are clearly more than risks and costs.

Best Practices example: Toro Manufactoring Company

Between 1992 and 2003 Toro Manufacturing Company (leader company in the production of grass cutter and gardening tools), solved thanks mediation 984 disputes, 62% solved in 12 months, saving the 81% in legal costs (from 47.252 $ to 9.074 $), and the 61% in judicial costs (from 68.368$ to 26.589$). At the end of 2000 Toro Manufactoring had just 2 ongoing procedures while ten years before it had 60 ongoing procedures. The use of mediation by Toro Manufactoring is the example that the reduced involvement of the courts reduced the legal costs of many big companies.