What Common Civil Cases Are Usually Mediated?

Civil cases in Florida can include almost anything from property dispute to construction cases. Most of the civil cases I handled recently involved foreclosure mediations.

Civil matters could also involve things like personal injury actions and traffic accidents.

Court Ordered Mediation Vs Private Mediation

Certain courts in jurisdictions have mediation programs, which are subsidized by the state. They have a list of mediators or staff who people use if they need a certain issue mediated.

The problem is that this is usually limited to less complicated cases. They have time limits and the parties would generally not actually be able to choose who their mediator would be.

There are a lot of non-attorney mediators as well. This can be a problem as parties would not have the best chance of resolving a case through that type of program. The state subsidizes this process as an alternative if someone’s resources are limited.

Private mediation would basically mean the parties hired their own mediator.

There really is no difference between a court ordered and private mediation. Most mediations are court ordered. The issue would be whether the parties went through a program or did it privately.

Pre-suit Mediation

I have actually handled quite a few cases where the parties tried to mediate before an action was even filed in court, which is called a pre-suit mediation.

This would typically not be court ordered because the parties would voluntarily agree they would go to mediation before anything ever went to the courthouse. The hope is that they could resolve all the issues before it turned into a war.

For more information on using mediation in civil cases, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by emailing or calling our lawyer in Tavares at (352) 290-2877 today.