Free mediation for the rest of the year

Finnish Bar Association launches major mediation campaign

This autumn’s mediation campaign sees almost 80 of the Finnish Bar Association’s trained mediators offering free mediation to disputing parties from 1 October until 31 December 2021. The campaign offer includes one day of preparatory work and one day of mediation, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Settling disputes through the courts can take years, and the coronavirus pandemic has only added to the backlog. The Finnish system benefits from several useful forms of mediation, but attorney-assisted mediation is perhaps the fastest, most effective and most affordable option. The process is fully confidential and therefore especially well suited to settling business disputes.

The Finnish Bar Association’s mediation campaign targets both corporate and private disputes. The campaign does not, however, extend to family and custody disputes, as the courts have a well-established procedure for dealing with these kinds of cases. For a case to qualify for the campaign, at least one of the parties must have an attorney who feels that the nature of the case makes it a good candidate for mediation. Clients can also ask their attorney to put their case forward for the campaign. Proposals of cases to be included in the campaign are first reviewed by the Finnish Bar Association’s Mediation Committee, which decides whether the case should go ahead and finds the most suitable mediator.

The idea for the campaign came from Attorney-at-law Antti Pulkkinen, who is delighted to see so many attorneys stepping up to help unravel the case backlog that the coronavirus pandemic has left in its wake:

“This is a great opportunity for people to try attorney-assisted mediation on a low-threshold basis. The Finnish Bar Association’s Mediation Committee and the attorneys who have lent their valuable support to the campaign are prepared to work pro bono to make this efficient way of settling disputes better known among the public. I urge as many of my colleagues as possible to take advantage of this brilliant opportunity and put their cases forward for mediation.”

Attorney-assisted mediation has become more popular in recent years, but its full potential still has not been realised. Attorney-assisted mediation has a lot to offer as an alternative to taking cases to court especially when it comes to settling business disputes.

Enquiries

Antti Pulkkinen, Attorney-at-law, tel. +358 (0)50 304 6731, antti.pulkkinen@inventio.fi
Sari Krappe, Communications Director, tel. +358 (0)40 562 0040, sari.krappe@asianajajaliitto.fi