Mediation is primarily designed as an alternative to going to court. It is designed to save costs and resolve disputes.

Essentially it is an assisted but loosely structured negotiation process whereby a neutral third party (the mediator) who is totally independent of parties to a dispute assists the parties to finding a resolution to their dispute by methodically identifying the issues in dispute, and developing possible options to help achieve an acceptable outcome catering as much as possible to the interests and requirements of the various disputing parties.

The mediator does not impose an outcome on the parties but rather acts as a facilitator or conduit for discussions and the exchange of views in an informal setting with the aim to achieve if possible a negotiated outcome to a dispute thereby avoiding the necessity for formal adversarial proceedings in Court.