In our ongoing series of posts about arbitration, an increasingly popular form of private dispute resolution across the United States.  This week, we will discuss another prevalent system for resolving legal disputes outside of the public court system, mediation. Although arbitration and mediation both use independent third-parties to resolve legal disagreements, there are many differences between the two forms of alternative dispute resolution.  Arbitration is a privatized version of a trial.  In arbitration, the parties present evidence and testimony to persuade the arbitrator that they are entitled to certain relief under the law.  Mediation, on the other hand, is essentially an ongoing settlement negotiation.  A mediator does not decide which…