Mediation

Mediating a business divorce is the corporate equivalent to a marital dissolution of marriage. Emotions typically run very high. Please consider the following tips in preparation for mediating your next business dispute. First, consider the emotions of the parties. Attempt to temper the emotions prior to mediation. If you can talk your client off the [...]

As a mediator, one of the last things I want to see is the parties reaching a verbal settlement, but leaving without signing an agreement.   As we all know, nothing is binding until the agreement has been signed. Some of the most common reasons for failed settlements involve travel plans. There is nothing worse than [...]

Mediator Rule 10.310 provides: Rule 10.310. Self-Determination (a) Decision-Making. Decisions made during a mediation are to be made by the parties. A mediator shall not make substantive decisions for any party. A mediator is responsible for assisting the parties in reaching informed and voluntary decisions while protecting their right of self-determination. (b) Coercion Prohibited. A [...]

Whether you are a party to a lawsuit or the attorney representing one of the parties, a very common mistake is failing to draft a settlement agreement in advance of the mediation. The case may or may not settle at the mediation, but if it does, no one wants to sit around for several hours [...]

To quote Tom Cruise from the movie, Jerry McGuire, “Help me help you.”   Mediation can be an effective tool in settling cases. However, as the mediator, I can only do just so much to help forge that settlement between the parties. If clients come to the mediation with unrealistic expectations or are not mentally [...]

In many litigation matters, experts will be needed to prove up your client’s case.  For example, in a business divorce, an economist or certified public accountant may be needed to prove up the economics involved in attempting to secure an equitable division of assets. In real estate litigation involving a boundary dispute, a survey expert [...]

One of the more common mediation mistakes is to set the mediation for one-half day.   Often, parties will schedule the mediation for only a half day based upon the belief that either (a) the case has no chance of settling; or (b) if it is going to settle, it should settle in a few hours. [...]

So, it appears that the facts of your case support a certain cause of action, and you can establish proof of all of the required elements of that cause of action; but, have you looked at your case from the perspective of the burden of proof? The burden of proof is an element which is [...]

The primary components of EVERY Mediation are the exchange information, presentation of theories of each party’s case and the transmission of offers of settlement. Very often, an offer of settlement or advancement of the other party's theory of the case may solicit a response from the other party that goes something like "That no good, [...]