Your neighborhood should be a stress-free zone.  However, we have all had a neighbor or two who made our very existence intolerable:

Arizona Neighborhood Mediation

• the one with the car alarm that goes off every night (you know who you are);

• the ones who want everyone to enjoy their colorful marital fights (your door does close, Sir.  You know that, don’t you?); or

• the ones who will not remove their lawn ornaments from your side of the property (do you really need both the donkey and the gnome?)

The list goes on and on, and problems range from the mere annoying to the financially destructive (barking dogs, malodorous fumes, property line disagreements, substandard house maintenance that destroys your property value…).   As it is probably not in your best interests to get in a big, ugly fight with someone you have to see almost every day – and with someone who knows when you are not home – you may want to propose mediation to address the dispute.

With mediation, all parties sit down with a neutral third party who is trained to help people peacefully resolve disputes.  Mediation is confidential, relaxed, usually successful, and it allows neighbors to move forward with a positive relationship.  Perhaps, with the issue resolved, you will even borrow each other’s lawn tools again.

You could always sell your house and move, or hire expensive attorneys, but isn’t it better to make peace?

Alona M. Gottfried is a mediator and attorney in Arizona.  If you have questions about mediation, she can be reached at: 480-998-1500 or alona(at)sglawaz.com.  You can also visit:  www.azmediator.com.  This is a general interest article only and is not intended to be legal advice.  See a legal professional before making legal decisions.

Choosing  Mediation in Arizona is a great option to resolve or prevent conflict in your life.  Mediation, and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”), including Collaborative law and facilitation, are powerful methods of resolving conflict that allows the participants to end disputes without the unnecessary expense and stress that litigation can bring.

Using a Mediator, and other forms of ADR, have many benefits.

The Benefits of Using A Mediator in Arizona:

• Time-efficient. Litigation can take a year or more to complete. Mediation can take a day or less.
• Cost effective. In a highly litigated case, it is not unusual to amass many tens of thousands of dollars per party in attorney’s and expert’s fees and costs. Mediation costs substantially less, and the parties generally share the cost.
• Amicable. While litigation destroys relationships and often causes participants great stress and disruption in their lives, ADR often preserves relationships and eases stress.
• Flexible. With Mediation the participants are in charge of the resolution, and the participants have flexibility in crafting win-win solutions.  Courts are limited in how they can decide the case, and often there is a winner and a loser.
• Certain. Litigants always risk losing in Court.  No attorney can ever guarantee a win.  With Mediation, the participants control the outcome, and they do not have to gamble on the result by leaving their fate in the hands of a judge or jury.
• Confidential. Trials and Court decisions are a matter of public record. Settlement discussions remain confidential, with few exceptions.

Simmons & Gottfried, PLLC.
3977 N. 7th Street, Suite 340
Phoenix, AZ  85014

When Going to court in Arizona can cost tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars, who can afford pay to litigate in this current economy?  Okay, who can afford to litigate other than corporations that received TARP money?

Conflicts do not generally disappear when money is short supply.  Typically, more conflicts tend to arise when money is short.  It has been said that money problems are one of the top reasons for relationship issues.  Further, with a bad economy, more people are failing to comply with contractual terms, such as repaying a loan or credit cards.

The bad economy has sent individuals and companies alike back to the drawing board to find new ways to get things done.  For example,  people are cutting coupons out of the paper, and companies are letting their employees go.

Perhaps the economy is the push that people and companies need to try mediation instead of slugging it out in the courtroom.  Mediation is generally a much less expensive process than litigation.  Instead of paying two attorneys and often multiple experts for their assistance over a period frequently lasting a year or more, both parties pay one mediator who can often help resolve the conflict in a couple of days or less.

Using a Mediator makes good sense, especially when financial capabilities are limited.

Simmons & Gottfried, PLLC.
3877 N. 7th Street, Suite 340
Phoenix, AZ  85014