This study has aimed to clarify the obstacles and opportunities that face the process of mediation in USA (United States of America), and to take learnings from this more developed practice to assist the fledgling mediation practice in India. The data provided by the interviews has provided an immediate and practical response to the questions posed by the researcher with regard to mediation development in both countries. This has enabled a comparison to be made that has helped to determine different understandings and, where there are opportunities for changes, to further improve mediation as a dispute management process. As USA has a more advanced use of mediation in its current legal system when compared with India. As previously noted, the India legislated mediation practice appears to follow an evaluative model. In contrast, the facilitative model, along with some blended processes, are encouraged in USA practice. As described in this thesis, over the past decade, there have been a variety of efforts to move mediation into the mainstream of the court dispute handling system in USA. The disputants are encouraged to use mediation through the court-mandated approach, as well as through legislation to adopt a prelitigation mediation approach. Several factors have contributed to the development of this process, such as institutions having encouraged its use, federal and state legislation, and sustained research providing evidence to support the effectiveness of the mediation process. On the other hand, even though India has enacted legislation supporting mediation for seventeen years, there has been no significant uptake by parties or lawyers, nor any significant research supporting its usage. There are no training programs for mediators and using this process depends highly on the parties’ acceptance. Little research has been aimed at evaluating the current mediation system. As in the states even though there is a mediation department in all Indian courts, it is not operating to its full potential, which is supported by the interview data.