Settlement talks or mediation can give both parties a chance to talk about their needs and concerns. Negotiating can raise difficult and emotional issues.
Try to stay level-headed. Keeping the conversation polite and respectful will improve your chances of reaching agreement. It is also important that you take time to prepare yourself before those negotiation talks begin.
Good preparation will give you more confidence going into mediation or settlement discussions. Figure out who is involved in your court case: besides you and the other party, who else will be affected by the outcome of your court case? Think about the needs and interests of all the parties involved.
In that case you could use a mediator to act as a go-between. You and the other party may come to an agreement through phone calls, e-mails, text, or letters. However you get there, make sure to put your final agreement in writing.
Both of you must sign it. Be an active listener: make eye contact, take notes, use your body language to show the other party they have your full attention.
As you come to agreement on any of your disputed issues, write down the resolution and set it aside. This will allow you to focus on the remaining issues. If the other party has a lawyer, the lawyer might speak for that party during settlement discussions. They might leave the bargaining table together to discuss the options in private. This could be a friend or family member. Your supporter may sit at the table with you, but you should tell him or her not to join in the settlement discussions.
If you want to ask for advice or talk about the options, go speak privately with your supporter. Negotiations are discussions. They may be difficult, but you should not feel pressured to agree to anything you are not comfortable with. Remember, you can return to the court process at any time. If the judge signs your agreement it will be entered as a final order. Be careful not to sign any deal that is not in your best interest. Before you sign, ask yourself questions like:.
A good settlement is one that creates solutions that meet and advance the needs of both parties to some degree. Your solution may not be perfect, but it should have some benefit to all parties.
To learn more about different settlement processes, read Mediation and Other Forms of Settlement. Skip to main content. Google Tag Manager. Search for your legal issue. For complete results, select the county where you live or where your case is filed: Select county. Clair St. Settlement Very few court cases end with a decision from the judge.
Settlement has many advantages over going to trial: It can resolve your dispute faster, especially in cases where you agree about most things It may cost you less, for example, in court fees or pay lost during time off work for court dates It may be more confidential than a trial — the final judgment is a public record, but your settlement talks stay private You will have more control over the outcome of your dispute and avoid the risk of a judge deciding against you Avoiding a combative court process may be better for your relationship with the other party, especially if you have children together If you both have agreed to the solution, you both are more likely to stick to it However, settlement is not the best choice for every legal dispute.
If this is true, it might be too early to try settlement If any of these apply to you, you may want to consider hiring a lawyer so that you get the best possible result in your case. Timing of Settlement You can try to settle at any point in the legal process before you have a final court order. Effect of Settlement If you do reach an agreement, be sure to put it in writing. Negotiating Skills Settlement talks or mediation can give both parties a chance to talk about their needs and concerns.
Preparing for Settlement Figure out who is involved in your court case: besides you and the other party, who else will be affected by the outcome of your court case?
Facing a Lawyer in Settlement Talks If the other party has a lawyer, the lawyer might speak for that party during settlement discussions. Before You Sign Negotiations are discussions. Before you sign, ask yourself questions like: Does this agreement protect the interests that are most important to me? Do I believe settling this dispute is my only choice?
Point this out to your employer and couch it in terms that you could both walk away better off. If you have any information relating to malpractice by your employer which would help motivate them to give you a better deal, then what better time to mention it than now? It is especially relevant when such behaviour is the cause of you having to resign in the first place. Of course, you cannot blackmail your employer by asking for money just to keep quiet about certain information; but it can be used to point out the strength of your potential claim, and therefore be a legitimate bargaining chip.
Its standard practice to include a confidentiality clause when negotiating a settlement agreement. So you can list the things you want, such as an ex gratia payment, outstanding holiday pay, and then mention that you will be happy to sign a confidentiality clause confirming that the circumstances surrounding the termination of your employment will remain confidential. Set a deadline in your without prejudice letter and say that the offer will be withdrawn if it is not accepted by that deadline.
And stick to it. The type of event to threaten — apart from withdrawing the offer — can include submitting a formal grievance or issuing a tribunal claim. There is often no reason for doing this other than to put pressure on you. Your employer may try to stall you or string out the negotiations in the hope that you do miss this deadline, and if you do, then you might as well forget it because tribunals are very strict about this.
Learn more in our employment tribunal time limits article. So, submitting a grievance can be a good way to escalate your matter if your employer is ignoring you. It is also a handy way to see what defence the employer has up their sleeve before you issue your tribunal claim.
See also our separate guide on grievances. You can flush out any moves which they are planning to make in their defence, which will really help you fine-tune your claim and anticipate their response. Always appeal your grievance response, as set out below. If they offer you the right to appeal — use it. If there are two levels of appeal available — use them both. See also our guide on Appeals. See our settlement agreement templates for examples.
This allows you to see if there are any issues hidden in the small print which could scupper the deal. If you approach your employer with employment lawyers representing you, they will take a lot more notice of what you are saying, and this will really put them on the back foot in the negotiations. Aside from the obvious point that they know you really mean business and the case might well end up in tribunal, you will also have the benefit of the legal advice itself, particularly if you ensure that you employ an experienced specialist employment lawyer.
If you have a good case, then you can probably negotiate some kind of no-win-no-fee deal with your lawyer, and if they can negotiate a better financial payout for you, over and above that which your employer originally offered, then you have nothing to lose.
They will also have to spend money on instructing lawyers themselves, whereas they might well prefer to give it to you to make you go away.
If you would like expert legal help with negotiating your settlement agreement, then get in touch with us at Monaco Solicitors. We are a well-established firm of specialist employment law solicitors who represent employees only. We have negotiated thousands of settlements on behalf of employees, usually achieving significant increases in financial compensation over and above anything initially offered by the employer. In this guide. This guide covers: When should I resign? How should I behave when negotiating?
Should I make offers or threats to get a settlement? What settlement payout should I aim for? Can I save tax in my settlement payout? Can I use inside information to negotiate a better deal?
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