When two (or more) people are involved in a dispute, mediation is often the best way to settle the conflict.  This is especially true if that dispute is the end result of a relationship that was once good but has turned sour.  People who are dealing with wounded feelings and pride due to a separation, divorce, betrayal, or a financial dispute find it difficult to reconcile on their own – and when lawyers get involved, this difficulty is usually compounded exponentially.

The mediation process, on the other hand, involves a non-biased third party (including one or several mediators) that will listen to each party involved in the dispute individually and weigh all factors involved.  This allows the parties in conflict to feel that they have had ample opportunity to state their case and be heard fairly.  It is generally the case that the result of this calms both parties down to a point where there is opportunity for reasonable, rational discourse concerning what is fair for everyone involved.

Taking a case through litigation (a court trial), on the other hand, often has the opposite effect.  When parties involved in an antagonistic relationship are in the heat of dispute and lawyers get involved, the dispute is often heightened.  This causes antagonism to build and when that happens, the parties involved in the dispute will often react in a stubborn, aggressive, or overly defensive manner, making a reasonable discussion difficult to achieve.

This is why mediation is the best way to handle disputes between antagonistic parties.  It is also much cheaper often costing the parties thousands of dollars less than litigation would cost.  Combined with the fact that it often calms antagonism, mediation is the best way to handle disputes that would otherwise be taken to the courts, and is just as legally binding as a court-ordered decision.