WILIŃSKI LEGAL
Not every dispute requires a judgment. Mediation gives the parties an opportunity to retain influence over the solution, reduce escalation and reach an agreement on terms that neither party could impose unilaterally.
We conduct family, civil, commercial and organisational mediations — in person and remotely.
Practice leadership
Practising lawyer, mediator, academic lecturer and dean of a higher education institution. Magdalena Osińska-Wilińska leads and substantively coordinates the WILIŃSKI LEGAL mediation practice.
She combines legal and mediation experience with management practice and work with family, professional and organisational conflicts. The purpose of mediation is not to persuade one party to make concessions, but to create safe conditions for dialogue, structure the dispute and look for a solution acceptable to the parties.
Separation, divorce, childcare, contact, maintenance, exercise of parental responsibility, division of property and arrangements for communication between parents.
Contracts, settlements, contractual liability, cooperation between shareholders, conflicts between entrepreneurs and property disputes.
Workplace conflicts, disputes between shareholders, members of governing bodies and managers, and situations affecting the functioning of an institution.
How the process works
The applicant completes the form and describes the dispute and provides the information needed to contact the other party.
The mediator checks whether the mediation can be conducted, verifies conflicts of interest and reviews the basic organisational conditions.
Where mediation does not already arise from an agreement between the parties or a court referral, the other party's voluntary consent is required.
Meetings may be joint, separate or remote, depending on the nature of the dispute and the parties' arrangements.
If the parties reach an understanding, the mediator helps structure its terms and prepares the mediation documentation.
Information materials
Mediation is voluntary. A party may decline to participate, and a participant may withdraw from further mediation. Consent to mediation does not mean an obligation to conclude a settlement.
The mediator remains impartial towards the parties and does not decide the dispute. The mediator is not the lawyer of either party and does not impose a solution.
Mediation proceedings are not public. The mediator, the parties and other persons participating in the mediation are obliged to keep confidential the facts learned in connection with the mediation, subject to any release from that obligation to the extent permitted by law.
Before mediation begins, the parties receive information about the costs and how the mediator's fees are charged. In contractual mediation, remuneration is determined according to WILIŃSKI LEGAL's rules.
A settlement concluded before a mediator is signed by the parties; the mediator prepares and signs the mediation record. Once approved by the court, the settlement has the legal effect of a settlement concluded before a court. If the settlement is enforceable by execution, the court approves it by granting an enforcement clause; only then does it become an enforceable title. In other cases, approval takes the form of a court order.
Mediation does not “interrupt” the running of limitation periods. Under Article 121(5) of the Polish Civil Code, for claims covered by an agreement to mediate, the limitation period does not begin to run and, if it has begun, is suspended for the duration of the mediation. Merely sending a submission form or invitation to mediation should not be equated with that effect. In the cases specified in Article 183⁶ of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, special rules may preserve effects associated with mediation; they require assessment of the specific procedure and applicable time limits.
WILIŃSKI LEGAL e-mediation
Covers registration of the matter, preliminary formal review, organisational activities, preparation of the invitation to mediation and contact concerning participation in mediation.
The amount depends on the type of dispute, number of parties, value of the dispute, expected number of sessions and the chosen mediation model.
The above rules apply to contractual mediations organised by the Firm and conducted by the designated mediator. For mediation based on a court referral, the mediator's remuneration and reimbursement of expenses may be governed by separate regulations.
Submitting the form constitutes a submission of the matter for mediation. It does not mean that the other party is obliged to participate, that a settlement has been concluded, or that the mediator has accepted all terms proposed by the applicant.
After accepting the submission, WILIŃSKI LEGAL may invite the other party to participate in mediation and set a 14-day organisational deadline for a response. This is an internal organisational rule of WILIŃSKI LEGAL, not a statutory deadline for consenting to mediation.
If the parties have not previously concluded an agreement to mediate, lack of consent by the other party means that mediation is not commenced. If the other party does not respond within the organisational deadline stated in the invitation, the Firm may close the submission as not organisationally commenced. The 14-day deadline set by the Firm does not alter statutory deadlines or legal effects under the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, in particular Articles 183⁶ and 183⁸.
A condition for starting organisational activities is payment of the registration and organisational fee within the deadline stated in the information sent after the submission is accepted. Once the activities covered by that fee have been performed — in particular after preparing and sending the invitation to the other party — the fee is generally non-refundable even if the other party declines to participate, subject to mandatory rules, in particular consumer rights.
If the applicant withdraws before organisational activities begin and before an invitation is sent to the other party, the registration and organisational fee is refundable. For distance contracts concluded with consumers, statutory rules on the right of withdrawal and settlement of services commenced at the consumer's express request also apply.
Online submission
The form is intended for a preliminary submission of the matter and is not, by itself, an application for mediation within the meaning of Articles 183⁶–183⁷ of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure. At this stage, provide only basic information and do not send confidential documents or extensive evidence before the rules for further communication have been confirmed.
Submitting the form does not automatically mean that the Firm has accepted the matter. The Firm will confirm acceptance of the submission, remuneration terms and the next steps in a separate message.