Mediation:

Any disputes that arise out of this agreement between the Client/Customer/Volunteer and the Company/Organization relating to services, billing, products/reports, financial matters or other such interaction with this organization, shall be mediated prior to litigation or other dispute resolution methods. Unless otherwise agreed in writing by the parties, both parties shall share the cost of the mediation equally. The mediator shall be chosen from the Tennessee Rule 31 Certified Mediator list and shall be agreed upon by both parties. Since mediation is a voluntary process, either party may initiate the mediation process.

We recognize that for many individuals and organizations the cost of conflict can be great. We affirm that in many instances there is a less expensive, often more effective method of resolution than the traditional lawsuit. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes such as mediation often spare businesses, individuals and community groups the high costs of litigation, preserve relationships and result in solutions and agreements with many benefits not available through a traditional court adjudicated matter. In recognition of these considerations, we adopt the following statements on behalf of our business and organization.

In the event of a dispute between our organization and another company, individual or organization, and if that person also commits to use of the ADR process of mediation, we are prepared to explore with that other party resolution of that dispute via mediation before pursuing litigation or trial preparation. If either party believes that the dispute is not suitable for mediation or another ADR process such as Arbitration, Med-Arb, Arb-Med, Binding Mediation or Non-Binding Arbitration, or if such techniques do not produce results satisfactory to the parties, either party may proceed with litigation.