SELECTING CASES TO SEND TO MEDIATION

Mediation works because it (1) brings the parties to the bargaining table; (2) educates the participants; and (3) lets the mediator work behind the scenes to develop a settlement.

Does the case have any of the following characteristics? If so, put a "check" in the appropriate spaces:

1. It has been 3 months since the parties discussed settlement; or the case is over 2 years old.
2. Your phone calls or letters to the other side go unanswered.
3. The other side is not furnishing you with the information you need to discuss settlement.
4. You or the other side are having 'client control' problems -- 'I believe your settlement figure is in the ball park, but my client (or insured) will never accept it'.
5. A lawsuit will soon be filed.
6. The case is in litigation, and a substantial round of discovery is coming up.
7. The case is in litigation and it is time to begin preparing for trial.
8. The case involves a large number of parties, and you are having trouble putting together a comprehensive settlement.
9. The case involves co-defendants or co-plaintiffs who are unable to agree among themselves on settlement positions.
10. One party to a case--or their attorney--is driving up everyone's litigation costs by engaging in unnecessary discovery or procedural maneuvers.
11. You are handling numerous similar cases.
12. The disputants in a case have an ongoing relationship--such as partners or other business associates--and you are concerned that prolonging the dispute will impair their ability to work together in the future.
13. A case's settlement value is less than what it will cast you to take the case to trial.
14. Negotiations have broken down, and you are going to incur a substantial amount of expenses before the next round of negotiations would normally occur.
15. While the stated offers and demands are far apart, your experience tells you that this case will settle.

If you checked one or more of the above boxes, you should consider submitting a case to mediation.

We obtain the parties' Agreement to Mediate as well as provide the mediator, schedule the mediation and provide the venue. You may submit a case on-line or call and we will take the information over the telephone. After receiving the case information, we will then solicit the other parties' agreement to mediation. We structure our process to facilitate closing files, not to increase your work load. You do not have to get the other parties to agree before sending the case, and we do not require any pleadings, briefs or position papers at or before obtaining the other parties' consent to the mediation.

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