Many students ask me this question in the courses and the answer is not as easy as you might initially think, or at least it does not have as direct an answer as my students would like.
When we stand outs the benefits of mediation, we say that it saves time and money. Mediation will always be a cheaper alternative than the option of going to the expensive judicial process, and a faster solution than long and tedious judicial processes, which depending on the city, can last up to years.
About the cost of mediation in civil and commercial matters, much is said in Law 5/2012 on mediation, but for practical purposes, nothing is specified.
In its article 17 regarding the information session, it is stated that in that session the mediator, among other issues, will inform the parties about the cost of the mediation.
Likewise, in article 19, regarding the constitutive session, it is said that the mediator must offer information on the cost of mediation or the bases for its determination, with a separate indication of the mediator's fees. /and other possible expenses.
In addition, it dedicates a specific article, number 15, to discussing the cost of mediation:
- The cost of mediation, whether or not it has concluded with the result of an agreement, will be divided equally between the parties, unless otherwise agreed.
- Both the mediators and the mediation institution may require the parties to provide funds that they deem necessary to cover the cost of the mediation.
And it ends by saying that if the parties or any of them do not provide the requested funds on time, the mediator or the institution may terminate the mediation. However, if any of the parties has not made their provision, the mediator or the institution, before agreeing to the conclusion, will inform the other parties, in case they have an interest in supplying it within the period that has been set.
But after reading all this, the question remains the same: how much does mediation cost?
We set a price
The truth is that In terms of professional fees, we must start from the freedom to set them., so with some exceptions such as mediation derived from a public service, or for beneficiaries of legal aid or, for example, bankruptcy mediation, there is no tariff system for the services provided by mediators, which which means that our fees are not determined by a law or regulation and we can set them freely.
As I told you, regarding bankruptcy mediators there are criteria regarding their fees, and these are regulated in the Second Additional Provision of Law 25/2015, which establishes the rules for calculating the compensation of the bankruptcy mediator.
But in other cases, What criteria or aspects can we take into account?
Criteria to take into account
- The object matter of mediation, since a family conflict is not the same as a commercial issue.
- The complexity of the matter.
- The amount being discussed, a conflict in which the parties argue over 5,000 euros is not the same as over 50,000 euros, than over 500,000 euros.
- He number of sessions that are needed.
- He number of parties involved.
- If the mediation will be in person or a mediation on-line.
- If it is a mediation directed by a mediator or co-mediation.
How can the mediator's fees be calculated?
exist different ways to calculate the fees that the mediator will charge according to his/her way of working.
There are mediators who charge for each session held, and there is a fairly wide range in this regard.For example, ASEMED (Spanish Mediation Association) establishes management costs of 70 euros for each party, 50 euros for the information session for each party and 80 euros per session and intervening party from the 1st to the 3rd session, and 90 euros euros from the 3rd onwards.
In this way, the average cost of a mediation in which 3 mediation sessions are held plus the information session would amount to around 350 euros for each party.
A separate price for the drafting of the Final Act is also usually established in this system.
Other mediators set their rates with a “variable price”, so that if the parties reach an agreement, they will charge a percentage of the amount in conflict, which in turn would vary depending on the amount discussed or closed in the agreement.
We also find mediators who offer price reductions in case the agreement is partial.
While other mediators offer a mixed system with fixed amounts per number of sessions held, and a percentage in case of agreement. This system is unusual in family proceedings, but we do find it on many occasions for commercial mediations, in which the amounts at stake are usually much higher.
This system allows that if the parties do not reach an agreement, the sessions held will be charged, but the variable part will not be charged.
I leave you two examples of different rate budgets for the same mediation between two companies with a process amount of 100,000 euros:
First example
| Concept | Amount (without VAT) |
| Constitutive session | 130€ |
| Minimum price of the process regardless of the number of sessions | 1000€ |
| Variable price by final agreement | (2% of the amount discussed) 2,000 euros |
| In case of partial agreement | 50% reduction |
| Total with agreement (VAT not included) | 3130€ |
Second example
| Concept | Amount (without VAT) |
| Constitutive session | 130€ |
| Price per session (€70). 4 sessions have been held until agreement is reached. | 280€ |
| Drafting final minutes | 150€ |
| Total with agreement (VAT not included) | 560€ |
