Dispute resolution
Settle it in twenty one days, without going to court.
Mediation is two parties reaching their own agreement with somebody neutral in the room. It is not a hearing and nobody rules against you. WLS runs it online under published rules, for US$50 to file.
Five steps, and a clock on each one.
Every period below is in the rules, and every one of them is recorded against your case rather than left to somebody's diary. You can see where your dispute is and what is holding it up.
- 01
You file
Rule 3Name the other party, describe the dispute, say what resolution you want, and attach what you are relying on. US$50 to file. You serve a copy on the other party, and WLS serves the claim formally.
- 02
They answer
Rule 3.4The respondent has 7 working days from service to reply, and pays the same US$50 to do so. A late answer is still recorded and still read.
- 03
A mediator is recommended
Rule 4WLS puts a name to both parties, with their field and their experience of this kind of dispute. Both of you have 3 working days to approve. Nobody mediates your dispute without your agreement.
- 04
You mediate
Rule 4.221 days, online unless both of you are in the same place. The mediator does not decide anything and does not give either side legal advice. They get you to an agreement or they do not.
- 05
It settles, or it goes to arbitration
Rules 5 and 4.3A settlement becomes a written deed the parties sign and can enforce. What has not settled inside the period is referred to compulsory arbitration under the chamber's rules, where an arbitrator decides it.
Rule 2 says what these rules cover.
- A landlord and a tenant, over arrears, a deposit, repairs or notice
- An estate agent and a client, over commission or an instruction
- A buyer and a seller, over an agreement of sale that has gone wrong
- A supplier and a customer, over work done, work not done, or an invoice
- Partners or shareholders who still have to work together afterwards
- Anybody who would rather not spend two years and the disputed amount in court
Rule 2.6 covers everything else, provided both parties agree to mediate. Mediation is consensual: it cannot be imposed on somebody who will not take part, which is why a dispute that stalls goes to arbitration instead.
Who mediates.
An accredited mediator on the WLS panel, verified the way every provider on this platform is verified, who has personally accepted the mediator code of conduct. That code binds them to impartiality, to confidentiality, to taking only work inside their own competence, and to charging nothing outside what the parties agreed and WLS approved.
They facilitate a settlement. They do not decide the dispute, and they do not give either party legal advice unless they are already that party's lawyer. Both of you approve the name before they are appointed.
Start with the matter you have today.
Browsing costs nothing and you do not need an account to look. The fee is on the profile before you book anything.