Category: Mediation Tips

Although mediations are private, informal proceedings, observing the Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers is no less obligatory than at a hearing or trial. Lawyers

Most successful mediations result in parties agreeing that one will pay the other an agreed sum. When the parties cannot agree on the amount, however,

Negotiating parties naturally focus on their own needs and pay far less attention to the needs of their adversaries. This bias toward its own needs

We tend to think of a mediation as successful where the parties reach a complete agreement at the mediation conference and as unsuccessful where they

A defendant will often find itself unable to pay in a lump sum the amount needed to settle. Happily, to obtain a sufficient settlement a

In many mediations, each party forcefully tells the mediator: it’s clear we have the better case, so go convince the other side our case trumps

Final offers usually meet with skepticism as to whether they are truly final. So how do you make your final offer come across as credible

Often late in the day a party will give the mediator an offer, concluding with the words, “And tell them this is our final offer!” But is

In negotiating a money settlement plaintiffs and defendants come to the table from two different places. Plaintiffs’ concessions are largely speculative. Plaintiffs are giving up