By: Luis Gerardo Ramírez Villela
Legal dispute management is the structured process of handling conflicts, from initial identification and investigation to resolution, using strategies like negotiation, public or private mediation, arbitration or litigation, to avoid formal court battles.
Dispute management processes usually involve in-house counsel, external counsel and, if necessary, external parties, which would all focus on documenting and analyzing specific cases for purposes of resolving any dispute in a pacific and efficient manner.
In Mexico, it is now being more frequent to use public or private mediation/negotiation to expedite any process related to a conflict between the parties and avoid excessive costs and that could arise in an ordinary litigation process or even in arbitration, as well as cost effective timing in such processes.
Public and private mediation differ mainly in who chooses the mediator, the costs, and the assignment process.
Public Mediation
Public mediation is managed by the government and mediators are selected by lottery through a process carried out by the Alternative Justice Center (Centro de Justicia Alternativa) and are often free of charge or with reduced costs for the benefit of the parties.
This type of mediation is available to resolve any conflict related to civil, mercantile and family matters, and there is a specific process to request the assistance of the Alternative Justice Center.
This process may take some time since specific proceedings will be carried out by the Alternative Justice Center and the suspension of the prescription may be suspended depending on the relevant jurisdiction.
Private Mediation/Negotiation
Private mediation is managed by a private mediator which is certified in civil, mercantile or family matters and supervised by the Alternative Justice Center, implies costs for the mediation process which would be agreed between the parties (as in arbitration) and the definitive agreement may be enforced judicially.
On the contrary, private negotiation may be carried out by external counsel without being necessary to be registered or supervised by the Alternative Justice Center and becomes a more expedite and efficient way to resolve any dispute. In this case the cost may be increased for each party but confidentiality and legal experts may offer a better alternative to resolve any dispute.
In conclusion, although both public and private mediation/negotiation seek consensual solutions, private mediation/negotiation offers more flexibility and discretion, while public mediation can suspend the statute of limitations in different ways and require specific administrative processes to begin and conclude the dispute.
