I bring to bear all of my emotional and legal skills when I serve as a mediator. Listening carefully and understanding not just parties’ positions, but their underlying interests. What drives them? Sometimes the parties themselves don’t understand what drives their position in a dispute. It may be money and/or timing of a payment, it may be a need for finality, or a sense of retribution borne out of injustice, or the need to preserve a relationship. The initial step in any mediation is to ferret out and understand those interests. A successful settlement can only be structured based on the satisfaction of each of the party’s interests.
I start my mediations with a pre-mediation Zoom session that includes counsel for the parties. Besides gaining an understanding of the dispute, I want to get a feel for the party’s (and counsel’s) dynamics. We map out the logistics of a session. Remote or in-person? Both can be effective. I find out whether both sides have all of the information and documents they need to assess the range of a potential settlement. I follow up that session with confidential calls to each side’s counsel to obtain any information the party can share with me but (at least at this point) doesn’t want to share with the other side.
Most mediations do not result in a settlement on Day One. They require follow up, persistence, and time for each party to come to terms with what it could mean to fail at settlement - in other words, the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.
Key to a successful mediation is timing. Timing is a balance between having the information necessary to come to the table, and avoiding unnecessary litigation or arbitration costs. I can help parties assess whether the time is right.
Because I’ve served as an arbitrator for twenty-three years, I can help the parties evaluate their litigation risks. Because I was the General Counsel of a large investment bank, I have a good grasp of business imperatives.
I am happy to discuss my approach to mediation should you consider engaging me as a mediator.