The Mediator sets out the law, where it is clear and not open to interpretation, as well as the options each party may have under the law, but will not give legal advice, in the sense that he will not suggest a particular course of action under the law. However he will give his view of the probabilities of each outcome in a court or tribunal action, as well as cost, as part of ensuring all parties  understand  the best and worst the future may hold in the absence of reaching an agreed settlement.

 

The Mediator will identify the downsides for each of the parties of not reaching agreement, such as the majority shareholder not being able to issue dividends, a useful and commonly used tax saving device, without having to share them with the  minority shareholder(s). The Mediator will analyse the more likely outcomes of not reaching agreement. In many internal company disputes,  neither party has an option to issue court proceedings and failure to reach an agreement leads to stalemate in the company.   Company stalemate usually leads to all parties suffering since no-one can gain if the company underperfoms.