Lawyers love a good argument, preferably a long and therefore very costly one. What their clients want is something different: their problem solved, as quickly and cheaply as possible. That means looking outside the courtroom. The new and fastest-growing alternative is mediation, in which an expert outsider nudges the parties, usually companies, to reach agreement. When it works, it normally takes a couple of days. It costs thousands of pounds, rather than the million or more that can be involved in a big court case. It is convenient and confidential―managers do not suffer the indignity of having their mistakes exposed in public.
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