TIPS FOR RESOLUTION
Your independent professional is there to help you – choose to trust them and be open with them.
Always keep in mind that costly and potentially damaging litigation may be the alternative to resolution.
Bear in mind the current toll of the dispute – as well as the likely relief brought by resolution.
Try to maintain a proportionate approach to the issue – is it really worth all the strife and ongoing stress and pressure to prove a relatively unimportant point?
Have some points up your sleeve on which you may be prepared to offer compromise – one small conciliation on your part could end up going a long way towards resolution.
Scaling up your attack on the basis of your belief of right on your side will only cause the other party to scale up their defence – it won’t produce resolution.
Try not to get bogged down in detailed arguments but focus on the bigger picture.
You cannot remain entrenched in dispute – and later convince a court that you attempted resolution.
Keep in mind a summary of the case, especially recording the points of agreement. There may be less distance to move than you thought.
Try to forget “right” and “wrong” and think instead of terminating the dispute as quickly as possible. Even if you are in the right – and the other side knows it – they are highly unlikely to admit it. Even in court, resolution is often reached by compromise instead of right and wrong.
If your real "clincher" points have been made previously in negotiations, then repeating them is unlikely to draw you any closer to resolution.
Have a clear understanding of your hopes for resolution – consider both parties’ intentions – in the dispute and in the resolution. Give some time to focusing your attention on being clear about what you want and what the other side wants and the ways in which that might be accommodated.