SDR Process vs Mediation
- SDR thinks that mediation as practiced today wastes time and has too high a likelihood of not resolving a dispute.
- As practiced today, mediation often involves more than a day for even the initial mediation session. More complex matters often get mediated over months.
- Progress is made—at best—late in the day—and only then if the parties truly want to compromise.
- SDR believes that the basic problem with mediation is that the participants know they can walk away with no resolution and continue the dispute. There is no fear of a decision by a third party to cause each participant to dread a resolution arising from the mediation that could be significantly adverse. The mediation process undercuts itself.
- In contrast, the participants in an SDR process know that a resolution will be reached the very day of the meeting. They can’t afford to take unreasonable positions because the founder is required to make a binding decision at the end of the single day of the meeting. There is no real opportunity for posturing and delay.