Study presents unprecedented data on business mediation in Brazil

Last week, the Center for Access to Justice, Process and Dispute Resolution Means (Najupmesc) at Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo Law School and Canal Arbitragem released a study on the growth of mediation and its adoption by large companies in Brazil.

This unprecedented empirical study looked at the numbers involving institutional mediation in the last 10 years, based on data from seven of Brazil’s main mediation chambers:

• The FGV Mediation and Arbitration Chamber (CAM-FGV);
• The CIESP/FIESP Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration Chamber (CAM-CIESP/FIESP);
• The Business Mediation and Arbitration Chamber (CAMARB);
• The Arbitration and Mediation Center (Amcham);
• The Brazilian Center for Mediation and Arbitration (CBMA);
• The Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Arbitration and Mediation (CAM-CCBC);
• The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The study was coordinated by Professor Daniela Monteiro Gabbay of the FGV Sao Paulo Law School and Professor Vera Cecília Monteiro de Barros of the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation. The research work was done by Ana Paula Ribeiro Nani and Bruno Hellmeister Lico Canal. The study was based on data collected from mediation chambers in 2022, allowing a comparison with data collected between 2012 and 2017 as part of a research project called “Business Mediation in Numbers: Where We Are and Where We Are Going,” carried out by Daniela Gabbay using the same methodology.

Among other things, the study found that the use of mediation in Brazil has grown in the last 10 years, especially during the pandemic, in 2020 and 2021. For example, in 2012, the seven chambers in question received 26 requests for mediation, while in 2021 there were 120 requests. The number of mediation processes initiated went from 22 in 2012 to 90 in 2021. This was a record year in terms of the number of cases requested and initiated. The most common disputes were related to business contracts, corporate demands, construction and energy. Court-supervised reorganizations joined the list only recently.

In addition to mediation numbers and the most common themes, the study looked at the sums involved, the average length of time, the percentage of cases in which agreements were reached, cases involving the public authorities, the existence of mediation clauses, the profile of mediators and parties, the use of mediation as part of broader arbitration processes, the use of dispute boards, technical statements during mediation, and online and hybrid mediation, among other topics.

To see the full study, click here.