Alternative Dispute Resolution
Nov. 17, 2012
The skeptic's guide to mediation
For lawyers who fear the settlement process, there's a simple answer: evaluate your case realistically and be painfully honest with your client in order to create realistic expectations from the outset.
Robert S. Mann
Neutral, ADR Services, Inc.
Email: rmann@adrservices.com
Robert mediates and arbitrates business, real estate and construction disputes.
The only thing more surprising than the number of times that I have started a mediation with one or both parties telling me some version of: "This case will never settle," is the number of times that the very same case settles at mediation. Often, I feel that the parties or their counsel secretly hope that the case won't settle. I was reminded of this when reading a recent commentary by a political "talking head" wherein she described President Barack Obama's re-election as the "triumph ...
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