Experts debate legal security in business mediation
Fundação Getulio Vargas recently hosted a panel discussion as part of a seminar called “Legal Security and Development: Challenges for Progress,” organized by the Brazilian Bar Association’s Higher School of Law. The panel was focused on predictability and legal certainty in the context of business mediation. The moderator was Juliana Loss, executive director of the FGV Mediation and Arbitration Chamber and chairwoman of the Mediation Committee of the Brazilian Bar Association’s Rio de Janeiro branch.
The speakers included Álvaro Palma de Jorge, a professor, arbitrator and founder of the FGV Rio de Janeiro Law School; Fabiane Verçosa, a professor at the FGV Rio de Janeiro Law School with a doctorate in international law; and Mariana Freitas de Souza, CEO of the Brazilian Center for Mediation and Arbitration.
During the event, the speakers mentioned the complex case of Unimed’s out-of-court reorganization via mediation, overseen by the FGV Mediation and Arbitration Chamber.
Fabiane Verçosa highlighted the growing migration from arbitration to mediation, and especially a type known as “sequential mediation.” This method has been increasingly used by companies because, in most cases, it offers a lower cost and faster conflict resolution. Mediation tends to reduce unpredictability and increase legal certainty by seeking solutions that are satisfactory to both parties involved.
The event highlighted the fundamental role of mediation in promoting legal certainty, contributing to the dissemination of knowledge and the improvement of extrajudicial methods and, consequently, the strengthening of these practices both in Brazil and around the world.
About the FGV Mediation and Arbitration Chamber
The FGV Chamber acts as a kind of court registry and is responsible for managing the proceedings. When a dispute arises and the parties agree that it will be resolved by an extrajudicial method, such as arbitration, mediation or a dispute board, either at the time the contract is signed or afterward, one party contacts the FGV Chamber’s Secretariat and submits the basic documents required to settle the dispute, listed in the chamber’s regulations for the chosen procedure.
Once a request for initiation has been received and the fee has been paid, the chamber is responsible for notifying the other party and then monitoring the entire flow of the procedure from start to finish.
This year, the FGV Chamber celebrated its 22nd anniversary. Since it was founded, it has become a leader in its area in Brazil, thanks to its procedural management model and its commitment to upholding the quality standards for which FGV is known.
