Corey Hanrahan brings trial-tested view of risk to mediation

After 18 years litigating employment disputes, Corey P. Hanrahan has experienced both sides of one of the fundamental uncertainties confronting parties in mediation: He has won cases, and he has lost them.

That experience now shapes his work as a mediator.

Hanrahan, founder of Hanrahan Mediation, practiced as an employment lawyer for 18 years before becoming a mediator two years ago. He serves on Los Angeles County Superior Court's Mediation Volunteer Panel and Resolve Law LA, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California's mediation panel.

"I've been through trial and arbitration. I've won cases and I've lost them," Hanrahan said. "That gives me a personal, firsthand understanding of the risk parties face when they choose to litigate rather than settle."

Exploring that uncertainty is central to Hanrahan's mediation approach. When parties are entrenched, he reminds them that both sides may enter a courtroom confident they will prevail -- but they cannot both be right. He then walks them through potential outcomes, from best case to worst case, and compares those risks with a negotiated resolution.

Hanrahan said employment disputes are particularly well suited to mediation because workplace relationships can span years or decades and often carry emotional histories that aren't easily addressed through traditional litigation. Mediation allows parties to look beyond legal claims to the interests and motivations underlying a dispute.

Establishing a personal connection is therefore important. Hanrahan said he tries to get to know participants as people rather than viewing them simply as parties to a conflict.

"Separating the person from the dispute matters because it lets me explore, later in the session, what their life or business looks like once the conflict is behind them," he said.

Volunteering has also required Hanrahan to develop skills different from those he relied upon as an advocate, particularly patience. Instead of pushing toward an outcome, he has learned to tolerate silence and give parties time to work through their own reasoning.

"A good mediator knows when it's time to talk numbers, and when it's still too early," he said.

Hanrahan conducted about 10 volunteer mediations during the past year and hopes to handle at least 12 annually going forward.

For him, the payoff comes when parties begin reconsidering positions rooted more in principle than an assessment of the case.

"That's where real movement happens," Hanrahan said.