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The book drives home the point that mediation is a no-loss process. No more appeals, revisions or reviews. You have obtained a total solution to your problem.

SETTLE FOR MORE — THE WHY, HOW AND WHEN OF MEDIATION
By Sriram Panchu
Publishers: East West Publications, Chennai
Price: Rs 250

Settle For More — The Why, How and When of Mediation is not a law book in the conventional sense of the term. The author, Sriram Panchu, does not drown you in a sea of legalese, and is eminently `layman' friendly. It seeks to suggest a solution to a problem that the system of administration of justice has fairly conceded is solution-evasive — the problem of finding effective, easy and sensible methods of resolving disputes.

The terse words of Lawrence Tribe, "Too much law, too little justice; too many rules, too few results... " that set out as preface to the third chapter of the book, sum up the position.

In nine concisely written chapters, the author suggests a paradigm shift to the way we should approach the problem of resolving disputes. The initial parts of the book identify the problems with the existing legal system. Legal proceedings are costly and time-consuming; they often fail to identify or address real issues involved in the dispute; legal practitioners are more concerned with winning than finding the truth or solutions; the legal process actually increases conflict between parties who have come to resolve their differences. "Conflict is treated with increased doses of conflict to hammer out a legal result," observes the author.

So, what is the solution? A genuine attempt at resolving disputes through mediation is suggested. There are a lot of misconceptions about the system of mediation, which this book will hopefully dispel. As the author points out several times in the book, a mediator is not a judge. He does not give an award or judgement, but guides parties towards a solution.

A paragraph in Chapter Four sums up succinctly what mediation is and what it seeks to achieve: "The process can be summarised by saying that the mediator opens up communication, focuses parties on their long-term interests, gets them to be realistic about their case and its prospects, encourages them to come up with options for settlement, and helps them refine more options to yield an agreement that both parties see as a fair and proper end to the dispute. The mediator is a facilitator; moving parties from the extreme ends of the disputing spectrum of the common ground of settlement."

The book drives home the point that mediation is a no-loss process. If you are able to arrive at a settlement through mediation, then obviously it is the best thing that can happen to you. No more appeals, revisions or reviews. You have obtained a total solution to your problem. On the other hand, at the end of the process if you are not able to settle a dispute you are free to look at other options. However, even going through the process is useful, because it helps you understand why your opposing faction is taking the stand that it is taking.

It goes without saying that for the process to work well, you need well-trained mediators. "Trustworthiness, credibility and competence are primary attributes," the author says. "It is a mistake to think that because one is an expert on the law, one can automatically be a good mediator. There are skills that need to be learned," he cautions.

The author, however, concedes that mediation may not be possible in all cases that come up before courts. Criminal matters and constitutional issues, for example, cannot be resolved through mediation.

Panchu is understandably critical of our conventional court system, lok adalats and settlement of disputes through arbitration. However, two points will have to be noted here. First, even a well-managed mediation regime cannot be the answer to our staggering backlogs. The collective wail of the principal characters in Lewis Carroll's The Walrus and The Carpenter on clearing beach sand reflects our predicament with this problem: "If seven maids with seven mops swept it for half a year, do you suppose," the Walrus asked, "that they could get it clear?" The Carpenter said, "I doubt it," and shed a bitter tear.

For the system to manage the current docket explosion, all four systems — the conventional court system, lok adalats, settlement of disputes through arbitration, and settlement of disputes through mediation — should function effectively. It is doubtful whether the large mass of cases that are filed before courts every day can, or even a substantial portion of them, be resolved by mediation. Second, mediation is in its infancy. It does not suffer the disadvantages of the other three systems that have acquired questionable reputations for effectiveness, primarily because of the lack of effective management skills that have been applied to these systems over a long period of time. Mediation may suffer the very same fate if it is not managed properly.

This is why Settle For More could not have come at a more appropriate time. Globalisation, liberalisation, and privatisation will lead to larger volumes of commerce and other forms of human interaction. The cascading effect of the process would generate larger volumes of disputes. Mediation is a breath of fresh air and if the principles and practices suggested in the book are applied even at its infancy, there is a fair chance that the system of mediation could remain unpolluted.

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