Caution and disclaimer: The following article is provided solely for educational purposes. This is not legal advice. Readers must seek independent legal advice from a properly licensed practitioner.
In certain cases, the parties are also obliged to undergo a mandatory mediation within 90 days after the first defence is filed. You can ask for an extension if you feel that you will a better chance to settle after the discovery and examination.
If the mandatory mediation fails to produce a settlement, before the case is set for trial, the court will require a meeting of all parties to see if the matters can be resolved before the trial. This meeting is called a “pre-trial conference“. Sometimes it is also called a “settlement conference”. The pre-trial conference is held in front of a judge or a junior judicial officer called a “master”. The parties will explain their positions and the judge or master will tell them what is likely to happen. What the judge or the master says during the conference is not binding, but most people tend to go with it and settle the case. The lawyers will also evaluate the conference and advise the parties accordingly.
Many people are surprised that over 95% of cases are settled privately. This is because the rules governing the civil litigation process are designed to facilitate settlement.
I always encourage clients to make an offer that they can live with, because if the offer is rejected and the eventual outcome is less favourable than the offer, (meaning: you should have taken the offer!), there will be cost consequences on the parties. If the outcome is better than the offer that was not accepted, there is no penalty for making that offer. In the end, you have nothing to lose in making a reasonable offer.
