In addition to his legal practice, Drew H. Peterson is one of Alaska's most experienced and well known mediators. He has written a regular column on mediation and other forms of alternate dispute resolution for The Bar Rag, the newspaper of the Alaska Bar Association, since 1987.
Mediation is a relatively informal, non-adversarial process in which a neutral third party - a mediator - helps parties to negotiate with each other. The mediator does not make decisions, but helps the parties to reach their own settlement.
The mediator guides a structured negotiation process, whereby parties attempt to identify common ground and find solutions to disputes that result in the best possible outcome for both sides. Mediation seeks win-win outcomes to disputes rather than the traditional results obtained through the litigation system, whereby one side wins and the other side loses in court.
Mediation has been found to be of particular benefit to resolving disputes between parties who have a continuing relationship. Thus mediation has been of special benefit to resolving disputes between family members, employees and employers, business and suppliers, merchants, and customers, or any other circumstances where the parties are going to need to continue to deal with one another after the dispute has ended.
Disputes which have been mediated successfully include the following:
Anything that can be litigated can be mediated, plus many disputes which cannot be resolved through the litigation process.
Call 561-1518 for a Free Telephone Consultation to see if mediation is an option for your case.