After getting into a car accident in Kentucky, the accident victim may want to file suit with the help of a Louisville accident lawyer against the responsible parties and achieve a full recovery through a trial. However, even when an accident seems slam dunk in favor of a plaintiff, one never knows how a jury will decide.
One way to resolve a Louisville, KY car accident is to go through mediation. Mediation is when a neutral party, the mediator, helps the disputing parties to come to a settlement. Parties may go to mediation when they want to resolve a dispute without the delays or expenses of trial or the unknown on how a jury may decide.
When disputing parties try to settle on their own, they may not reach a decision because there is a lot of back and forth through car accident attorneys. The legal representatives may not get along, or have difficult schedules that prevent them from discussing the issues in detail. Then the legal representatives have to go back to their clients to go over what the other side wants before a decision can be made on a settlement proposal. This could take several months.
Mediation helps parties settle because everyone is in the same location at the same time. The mediation also enables settlement when the mediator is someone experienced in dispute resolution or in the field of personal injury. The mediator may be able to come up with solutions that the parties have not thought about, or get the parties to understand the other side better.
When parties agree to mediate, it is implied that they are willing to compromise. The defendant implies that the defendant is willing to pay something to compensate the plaintiff, and the plaintiff implies that it is willing to not leave the defendant in the poor for the mistake that caused the accident. For example, in mediation, a plaintiff may accept less if the plaintiff can make the defendant feel embarrassed with a public apology.
Sometimes mediation may be mandatory when a court wants to unclog its calendar. A court may send people to mediation in hopes they will come up with a solution on their own rather than continuing to litigate. This may occur during a case or on the eve of trial. In these types of mediation, the mediator may be someone familiar with case outcomes of the sort, and give each party a reality check of what will likely happen if the case goes to trial. For the plaintiff, if the plaintiff does not have the evidence together, no matter how hurt, the plaintiff may get nothing. For the defendant, if a case goes to trial, the defendant may lose more than the defendant’s ability to pay.
When dealing with a car accident in Kentucky, contact a Louisville personal injury lawyer who assist clients in alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.