CISG - Related Consulting Services
Trade Dispute Resolution - Mediation
In an international commercial dispute, a neutral third party acting as a mediator can be appointed by the disputing parties to assist them to work together towards a negotiated settlement. Our proficient legal knowledge and extensive networks in various trade and industry will enable us to assist clients in appointing an excellent mediator, who will be assessed by his academic qualifications, working experience, track record, professional reputation, and communication skills. We shall then provide the appointed mediator with the assistance he may require. For example, if he is a retired judge, we may assist him in establishing existence of any usages and customs in the trade helping him to digest the factual background of the case intensively. If he is an industry expert, we may assist him in weighing up the strengths and weakness of each party’s claims or defences based mainly on CISG provisions, helping him to convince the disputing parties to avoid wasting time and cost in face of an undesirable outcome.
The proposed settlement of a dispute by the mediator may not be ‘fair’, but it must be ‘reasonable’ in the eyes of the disputing parties. To convince them to accept the proposed settlement as a ‘reasonable’ outcome of the dispute, the mediator must stress that the notion of reasonableness has been embedded in the proposal. The principle of reasonableness is a general principle permeating through the CISG. Our specialization in CISG interpretation and application puts us in a superb position to advise clients and their appointed mediators how to accomplish a reasonable solution that can be worked out to achieve an outcome meeting the needs of both sides.