Business Mediation
Settle the dispute before it costs the business.
Partner against partner, sibling against sibling, firm against firm. Disputes between people who know each other are the most expensive kind, because the bill is never only money. Mediation ends them while there is still something left to divide.
The real cost
The bill is longer than the legal fees.
Months of management attention spent on the past. Decisions frozen because the partners no longer sign together. Staff and suppliers who sense the trouble. And in a community, a court judgment is a public document.
- Partner and shareholder deadlock. Two signatures needed, two people not speaking.
- Family-business conflict. Generations or branches at odds, where every business position is also a family position.
- Disputes between businesses. A supplier, customer or former ally within the community.
- The quiet emergency. No writ yet, but trust already gone. The cheapest moment to act, and the least used.
Why mediation
What a private settlement preserves
- The privacy
Mediation is confidential and without prejudice. With rare exceptions, what is said in the room cannot be used in court later, and there is no public record.
- The business
Litigation takes years. A mediation is prepared in weeks and usually done in a day or two.
- The relationship
A settlement can leave two people able to trade again and sit at the same wedding table. A judgment declares a winner.
- The outcome
A court can mostly order money. A settlement can restructure the partnership, stage a buy-out, divide territories, or unwind a venture with dignity.
In Islam, negotiated settlement (sulh) is not the soft option. It is the commended one. A settlement extracted by exhaustion or pressure is no sulh at all, and the mediator’s neutrality protects both sides.
How it runs
From first call to signed settlement
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Both sides agree the process
One side approaches us. If it helps, we make the approach to the other: a neutral invitation is easier to accept than an adversary’s.
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The mediation
Joint sessions where positions are put in full, private sessions where the mediator tests each side’s real interests. In English, Arabic or Urdu.
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The agreement made solid
A settlement is recorded in writing and signed, and once signed it binds as a contract. Where regulated legal services are required, these are provided by our partner SRA-regulated law firm.
The mediation practice is led by Owais Qarni, LawFiq’s founder and an Accredited Mediator, who brings the commercial context and the cultural context to the same room.
Common questions
Before you propose it to the other side
Is the outcome legally binding?
The process is voluntary. The settlement, once agreed and signed, takes effect as a contract and is enforceable like any other. Where court proceedings already exist, it can be made into a court order.
The other side will never agree to mediate. Now what?
They agree more often than parties predict, especially when the invitation comes from a neutral and in their own language. English courts also expect parties to try to settle out of court, and an unreasonable refusal can count against a party on costs.
How is this different from a Sharia council or an arbitrator?
An arbitrator, religious or civil, hears both sides and imposes a decision. A mediator helps you reach your own. Nothing is binding until you sign it. If you want a decision imposed, mediation is the wrong tool and we will say so.
What does it cost?
It depends on the size of the dispute and the preparation involved, and we quote before anything begins. The comparison that matters is mediation against years of litigation.
Related service
Book a consultation
The first conversation is just with us.
Confidential and without commitment. Tell us what is happening, and we will tell you whether mediation can end it.
Or call 020 3930 1088