Expert: Why Lawyers should Mediate during Disputes, Proceedings

A commercial Mediation Specialist and Lawyer, Ms Racheal Osibu, has urged Nigerian lawyers to properly master the act of mediating during disputes and proceedings to triumph against all tangles in the business of arbitration, dispute resolution, settlement and crisis communications.
Contributing to the discourse through a statement on Monday titled “the role of lawyers in a mediation proceeding”, the trained negotiator opined that it is in the best interest of global peace and justice for lawyers to become mediation advocates.

Osibu, who is the Managing Partner of Osibogun and Partners and a mediation specialist, argued that with lawyers getting more involved in mediation during proceedings and dispute settlement, it was important that they learned how best to provide support for their clients and put their clients’ cases across to achieve maximum results.

The statement reads, “Mediation has been known to be a process where only the mediator and the parties are involved or participate in the proceedings depending on the style of mediation.

But more and more, mediation is arising as a result of a court order/direction. What role then, does the lawyer play on behalf of the client at such court-appointed mediation? Lawyers as a matter of course have to be gladiators as they fight for the rights, interests or positions of their clients.

“They are therefore used to acting as combatants in a field of battle and bring this same manner of approaching issues to mediation. Too often Lawyers are driven by what they think the result ought to be. This posture inevitably slows down the process and hinders a positive outcome or an outcome, which is beneficial to their client.

“Mediation is about what the results can be. Therein lies its beauty. It is a cardinal principle of mediation that it is a party-driven and party-centred process. Experience has however shown that lawyers end up being involved in the process as a lot of the time clients come to mediation as a result of court directions, having already retained counsel.”

 
It added, “Consequently, at some point or the other, either you or your firm will be involved in mediation; the importance, therefore, of lawyers understanding the process, its dynamics, and their role in it is not only necessary but also essential. There are two schools of thought on whether lawyers should participate actively in a mediation process or not.

“Some argue that lawyers have no business participating actively in a mediation process as they have little or no role to play while others argue that lawyers should be there to ensure that the client is not taken advantage of, which inadvertently means being actively involved. The latter position is said to defeat the purpose of mediation as lawyers come to mediation with an adversarial mindset, which may sometimes serve them in litigation but can clog the wheel of progress in a mediation setting. Thus, lawyers are enjoined to be mediation advocates.
 
“With lawyers getting more involved, it has become expedient that they learn how best to provide support for their clients and put their clients’ cases across to achieve maximum results. This way, counsel in such matters act as lubricants rather than obstacles to achieving accord between parties.”