Vindication
Seeking Solutions or Crusading for a Cause
By their very nature, parties in conflict believe in the legitimacy of their respective claims. Sometimes, however, the parties’ relationship to the conflict runs deeper. They begin to see themselves as crusaders for justice on a mission to vanquish one another. They may genuinely want to resolve their dispute, but this want is second to their need for vindication.
Crusaders are better served by litigation than mediation. This is not be-
cause they are likely to find vindication in a
judge’s ruling, but
rather
because they will not find it in mediation. Mediation is a problem-
solving process. It’s
oriented towards settlement without ascribing
blame to either party.
The extraordinarily high success rate of mediation (some 80% of
cases result in settlement) may owe much to this
problem-solving
orient-
ation. However, to parties whose foremost need is vindication, no
mediated settlement will ever suffice.
Unfortunately for such parties, their chances of vindication are
barely any
greater through litigation.
That’s because judges’ rulings are usually com-
promises based on a degree of skepticism for the claims of both parties.
Such a ruling is
unlikely to leave you feeling vindicated. More likely, you’ll feel resentful at the price you had to
pay to reach a court-imposed settlement.