Even the best mediator needs help from counsel to resolve a case. The attorneys who I mediate with are my best resource. I will always convene a Pre-Mediation call so I can obtain counsels’ insights into the case and the parties. I encourage this open communication even during mediation. Nothing helps me more than an attorney pulling me aside during mediation to provide me with his or her thoughts on how I can better connect with the parties. It is no coincidence that in every case where an attorney approached me privately to indicate that I was being too hard or too easy on the client, the case settled.
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I recently mediated a case between parties who have been litigating for over six years with no end in sight. A peremptory challenge to the trial judge was just granted and, as a result, the parties were unlikely to go to trial for at least another two years. Even worse, the present lawsuit was not likely to resolve all the issues between the parties and the filing of another lawsuit seemed probable. With this background, I set out to resolve the parties’ dispute and put an end to past and future years of litigation.
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