Jury trial Mediation Accessibility: Months or possible years Days or weeks Cost: Significant cost in terms of both time and money Comparatively nominal Preparation: Trial preparation expensive, time consuming and costly Should be thorough, but is much less time consuming and costly Risk: Is a Win/Lose situation. Each party's fate is taken out of their hand and placed into the hands of the judge and jury Normally results in a Win/Win outcome with the parties mutually agreeing to a resolution that each is satisfied with. The process is risk free. It's completely confidential and if there is no resolution, the parties still have every legal remedy available to them. Focus: The focus is primarily on the facts and the law. The focus is on the parties' respective positions, issues, interests and emotions. All points of view are considered. Procedure: Trial procedure is highly structured and for most parties, stressful and traumatic. Is more informal and relaxed. Less threatening and stressful. Allows parties the opportunity to freely express themselves. Results: Normally produces a winner and a loser resulting in at least one party being dissatisfied and unhappy. However, it is not uncommon for all parties involved to be less than satisfied with the outcome. Generally produces a favorable outcome with a high degree of satisfaction on the part of all parties with both the process and the results. Approximately 75% of all cases submitted to mediation result in an agreement between the parties.