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Navigating through business conflicts with professional advice Marion Morad is one of Switzerland’s best business mediators and a lawyer with an expert background in business. With 27 years of experience as a lawyer, Marion Morad has today become known in the Swiss business world as an effective conflict solver and a solution orientated legal adviser. TEXT: JESSICA HOLZHAUSEN I PHOTOS: MARION MORAD
Not everything runs smoothly in business, and especially when larger disputes arise, they can very quickly turn into legal issues; internal disagreements within a company or the different ways in which business partners can interpret existing contracts, a conflict between shareholders, or planning for company succession. Before going to court however, working with a mediator might be the right solution.“Next to actually preventing conflicts through good contracts, I can work with all parties involved to find a solution,” says Marion Morad. “My approach is to support and assist concerned parties in finding solutions for their issues together, like it is mostly done in business but in this case, I determine the framework as master of procedure.” In most instances, behind a negotiating position also lies an interest in finding a constructive solution that benefits everyone involved. And since people often need to work together afterwards, it is important to not only find an objective agreement, but also to preserve existing personal relationships.“Last but not least, 80 | Issue 57 | December 2017
compared to legal proceedings a mediation procedure is secret and not public,” says Morad, who as a lawyer, also takes court cases. Personal communication and service is important for Morad, who handles clients herself and works with a close partner network of lawyers and consultants on a case-to-case basis. Before founding her own law office ten years ago, Morad has worked in administration, at court and then ten years first as in-house counsel and then as head of legal for large corporations. “This means I have experienced the business world first hand, participating and planning important negotiations, for example business cooperations,” says Morad who is a certified mediator. Additionally, Morad received an Executive Master of Business Administration in New Media and Communication from The University of St. Gallen, and has therefore deeper knowledge about business administration and communication. Her main focus today lies with employment law, trade and sales law (especially franchising issues), and general commer-
Marion Morad.
cial law. Next to her work as lawyer and mediator, she is a lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. www.mb-law.ch The mediation process: The mediator is master of the procedure Preliminary talks and agreement about process and rules Step 1: Determining topics and contentious issues Step 2: Clarifying interests Step 3: Search for solutions Step 4: Agreement with a legally binding solution