Revista da EMERJ - V. 22 - N.1 - Janeiro/Março - 2020

19  R. EMERJ, Rio de Janeiro, v. 22, n. 1, p. 11 - 26, Janeiro-Março. 2020  THE “UNSATISFACTORY” SUCCESS RATE There are still some criticisms about the way the reform has been implemented, especially with regard to the aims pursued by the Italian Legislator. First, one should consider that, over the total number of requests to mediate, the counterparty has agreed to show up be- fore the mediator and to go beyond the first preliminary meeting in less than half of the cases. Since statistics on the achievement of the final agreement show similar rates, we can estimate that only one in five cases finds resolution in mediation 10 . Despite the increasing levels of confidence, and the slight improvement of the settlement rates in the last years, this is a sub-optimal result, in comparison to the resolution rates that the literature on the subject testifies abroad: statistics from the U.S., for example, re- port that settlement rate is approximately 80% 11 .. So, the issue revolves around whether the burdens imposed on such a signifi- cant number of the disputants, in terms of time and costs, justify a result that is modest after all, and if these “unsatisfying” rates are not due to the structure and the implementation of the re- form. In fact, in many situations, disputes that are in mediation, no matter what the parties or the mediator do, are not necessarily the most suitable to be mediated: think of a large part of bank- ing and finance standard contracts, which in fact have among the lowest rates of success in mediation. In 2017, only 6% of the mediations concerning bank contracts, and 10% of those about fi- nance contracts, ended with an agreement, while the success rate achieved was 46% when mediation concerned family covenants and agreements. With regard to the professionals involved in the mediation process, the attitude or other aspects of the judges, the mediators, and the lawyers can influence the settlement. In particular, many judges often order the parties to go to mediation in a bureaucrat- ic and impersonal way, without motivating their request. This 10 In 2017, the success rate of mediation was 43% over the total number of mediations where the parties went beyond the first information meeting. 11Wall, J.A., andDunne, T. C. (2012). “Mediation Research:ACurrent Review”. Negotiation Journal , 28(2), 217-244.