David Sockol

David Sockol - The Mediation Process David Sockol is a prominent lawyer in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he is the Founder and Senior attorney at Sockol and Associates. The firm has been located in downtown St. Petersburg since 2002, and represents clients in areas of civil litigation, business and commercial law, employment agreements, corporate and partnership disputes, personal injury, and many other areas.

He has also worked as a mediator. A mediator is someone who acts as a neutral third party in settling disputes by working with the other two parties to reach a satisfactory solution on the issue or issues that divide them.

As David Sockol knows, mediation is similar to arbitration, but a mediator usually does not have the authority to made a decision in the issue without the approval of both parties. An arbitrator is more like a judge, and does have the authority to render a decision in the matter without the consent of the two parties. Arbitration is a lot more like a court proceeding than is mediation.

But mediation should result in a fair decision. Mediators like David Sockol try to find a fair compromise in the dispute. Because there is typically not a public record in mediation cases, the two sides are able to thoroughly air their differences and potential differences. Neither side is bound to the decision of the mediator unless they explicitly agree to it. What that means in practical terms is that each party will only agree to what he or she considers a fair decision.

One of the advantages of mediation is that the process usually takes a lot less time than does a court case, and costs considerably less. Most mediation cases only last for a day or two. One of the reasons for this is that people usually take smaller disputes to mediation, while larger, more complex matters are left to litigation. In some cases mediation can last longer than a few days, but those cases tends to be the exception.

Most mediation cases involve civil cases such as divorce and child custody matters, small claims disputes, and business disputes. One of the main reasons that mediation is preferred over litigation is that the two sides want to maintain some sort of relationship after the matter has been resolved. As David Sockol knows, mediation is usually a cooperative and collaborative process, unlike litigation where it is adversarial and can become hostile.

David Sockol is a member of the St. Petersburg Bar Association, the Clearwater Bar Association, and the Pinellas County Trial Lawyers Association.