Civil claims filed at district courts follow the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. The court will expect that attorneys and pro se parties know and hold to the court rules and abide by them to their full extent. Thus, the litigation process usually takes more time; and it’s much more demanding and complex.

 

District court procedures give parties the opportunity to fully investigate and litigate all the elements of their claims. Typically, the amounts of money in dispute are significantly larger, and the court’s ruling may create business conditions that are not easy to manage.

 

Mediation experience has shown that some cases may require reconciling any underlying interests, which could be as important to the parties as resolving the dispute along with the amount of money claimed. These interests may include a party’s position in and out of their company, the company’s brand name or its position within the market and industry.

 

Private mediation provides the advantage of working to find a resolution while maintaining parties’ privacy. Many variables come into play while resolving these types of disputes, so it’s prudent to think seriously about engaging in mediation at an earlier opportunity.

 

Advantages to private mediation:

 

• It’s an opportunity for parties to express themselves openly and to share their point of view in a safe environment. This can reduce potential adversarial attitudes prevalent in typical disputes, allowing mutually agreeable resolutions to be found.

• It’s a good alternative to managing overall costs inherent to legal time and effort.

• It provides a flexible risk management approach to resolving and managing  disputes, and can preserve assets before a case is filed with the court.