Add Your PerspectiveApril 4, 2013

Settlement Counsel: 10 Free Internet Resources

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the Settlement Counsel concept — I’ve written about it, I’ve published an Updated List of Settlement Counsel, and I’m speaking about the idea in practice with Gary McGowan and Christopher Nolland today at the 15th Annual Section of Dispute Resolution’s Spring Conference.

For lawyers and clients wanting to learn more, a quick Internet search for “Settlement Counsel” doesn’t easily lead to the most informative — and free — resources, so I pulled together a list of links to where you might want to start.  Naturally, if you think I missed a good one, please let me know.

Settlement Counsel Hyperlinks

• Kathy A. Bryan, When ‘Winning’ Is the Expensive Solution, LEGAL TIMES (Apr. 16, 2007).
• Kathy A. Bryan, Why Should Businesses Hire Settlement Counsel?, 2008 J. DISP. RESOL. 195.
• John DeGroote, Who Serves as Settlement Counsel?  The (Updated) List, SETTLEMENT PERSPECTIVES L. BLOG (June 11, 2012).
• John DeGroote, Why Settlement Counsel? A Lesson from the Scorpion and the Frog, SETTLEMENT PERSPECTIVES L. BLOG (May 29, 2012).
• John Lande, The Movement Toward Early Case Handling in Courts and Private Dispute Resolution , 24 OHIO ST. J. ON DISP. RESOL. 83, 115-20 (2008).
• James E. McGuire, Why Litigators Should Use Settlement Counsel, 18 ALTERNATIVES TO HIGH COST LITIG. 6 (June 2000).*
• Gary Mendelsohn, Lawyers as Negotiators, 1 HARV. NEGOT. L. REV. 139, 139-67 (1996). More…

Categories: ADR,Negotiation,Settlement,Settlement Counsel

2 PerspectivesJune 11, 2012

Who Serves as Settlement Counsel? The (Updated) List

As you may know from my last post, I’ve been working on a few settlement counsel projects this summer.  Along the way I’ve learned that it’s not always easy to determine who actually serves as settlement counsel.  This is my effort to fix that problem.

Subject to the caveats at the bottom of this post, this list includes all the active settlement counsel I have found, updated as new information arrives.  If you’re aware of additional settlement counsel out there, or if you believe the hyperlink to one of the folks listed below needs to be updated, please let me know.

List of Special Settlement Counsel

1. Stephen D. “Steve” Altman – Washington, D.C.
2. Trey Bergman – Houston, Texas
3. Robert W. “Bob” Berliner, Jr. – Chicago, Illinois
4. Julian W. Bodnar – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)
5. Monte Bond – Dallas, Texas
6. Mark J. Bunim – New York, New York
7. Mark A. Calhoun – Dallas, Texas
8. Francis “Frank” Carling – New York, New York
9. Francis L. Carter - Miami, Florida
10. Jonathan M. Cohen – Washington, D.C.
11. Robert F. “Bob” Copple – Scottsdale, Arizona
12. Ralph Cuervo-Lorens – Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
13. Ben Cunningham – Austin, Texas
14. John DeGroote – Dallas, Texas More…

Categories: Miscellaneous,Negotiation,Settlement,Settlement Counsel

1 PerspectiveMay 29, 2012

Why Settlement Counsel? A Lesson from the Scorpion and the Frog

“We do not ask our generals to be diplomats, nor our diplomats to be generals.”  William F. Coyne, Jr. used that quote to explain the concept of settlement counsel in a Negotiation Journal article over a decade ago, and I keep coming back to it.

Why does your litigator focus on what happened, rather than what you want?  Is there a reason she needs more depositions before she’s ready to talk settlement?  Why does she have a trial plan but not a settlement plan?

Why Your Litigator Does What She Does

Dallas-based settlement counsel Christopher Nolland recently told me that the story of The Scorpion and the Frog helps explain why we need special settlement counsel, and he’s right.  AesopFables.com tells the story as follows:

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I More…

Categories: Miscellaneous,Negotiation,Selected Posts,Settlement,Settlement Counsel