James was reassured by this but he still had a nagging doubt: was there no way that Ian could wriggle out of what had been agreed? Fortunately, Robert’s response was what he wanted to hear: Ian could not change his mind once the solicitors had signed the Tomlin Order.
At that point, the deal was done and dusted and there could be no going back. Actually, that seemed quite logical to James. Mediation was, after all, a voluntary process and Ian should be bound by what he had agreed, just as James felt himself to be.
This mediation process seems OK thought James. So he took the opportunity to pick Robert’s brains. He asked him what happens where there is a dispute but proceedings have not yet been issued? It seemed to him to be unnecessary to have proceedings before the parties got round to a mediation.
After all, everything that he and Ian had argued over during the course of the day could have been dealt with before proceedings had been issued. James thought that the next time he had a dispute it would be a good idea to try mediation first and litigation second.
Robert agreed – the longer a dispute went on, the more entrenched the parties tended to become. So the earlier mediation is tried, the better.