Add Your PerspectiveNovember 21, 2008

Why Mediate at All? Can’t We Just Work It Out?

If you haven’t heard the old-school pitch, you will someday soon:  “I remember when lawyers actually talked to each other.  We don’t need to mediate this case; if it can be settled, you and I can work it out the way good lawyers used to.“

Although direct settlement talks can be cheap, quick and fun, there are reasons why mediation is as popular as it is.

In their inaugural post, Practical Dispute Resolution asked: “If the parties can’t agree, how can a mediator help?” I’ve settled cases in about 20 states, both as a client and as counsel, with mediators and without them. So I have my perspective on why mediation often works when direct negotiations don’t.  The top 7 include: More…

Categories: Mediation,Settlement

2 PerspectivesNovember 14, 2008

One Secret the Two Million Miler Club Has Taught Me

I’ll never forget a presentation by the Chief Litigation Counsel of a well-known tool company who complained about how long it takes to learn whether a newly-alleged product defect is really unsafe or not.  He told us that the first lawsuit outlining the defect takes time to serve, the charges take time to digest, and interrogatories and depositions can take months to complete before he can get to an answer.  All these delays prevent him from learning whether his product is really dangerous.

There is a better way.  As I write this I’m in seat 20B.  Perhaps he should be sitting next to me.

$24 Can Buy a Lot These Days

A few years ago one of my clients called to tell me a lawsuit was on the way.  After several years of efforts to unwind a joint venture, my client and my client’s partner had broken off negotiations.  The other side would wait no longer to get their money out of the deal, and five minutes with the file told me why.   More…

Categories: Communication,Negotiation,Settlement,Tactics

1 PerspectiveNovember 7, 2008

Better Settlements From Better Information: Early Case Assessments IV

“You can pay them, or you can pay me.  But don’t pay us both.”  My friend Robert Manley told me that as we sent him a new lawsuit a few years ago, and his quote sums up one of Early Case Assessments’ biggest benefits.  As we have discussed before, getting your ECA done — gathering the information required by the Early Case Assessment Checklist discussed in Part II and Part III of this series — requires an up-front investment.  This post will tell you why, if you plan to settle your case, a thorough Early Case Assessment will be worth that investment.

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Categories: ECA,Miscellaneous,Negotiation,Settlement,Strategy,Tactics

2 PerspectivesNovember 4, 2008

A Bird in the Hand: Just Send a Check to Settle Your Case

I have an old friend who told me how one of his plaintiffs’ cases — the one sure to go to trial — finally got resolved:  ”They kept hitting me with bigger and bigger checks until I had to settle.” He has a great story, but this post isn’t about settling big cases with big checks.  It’s about settling smaller cases with even smaller checks.

I recently wrote Non-Binding Arbitration:  Get Your Day in Court Without One Day in Court.  In that post I wrote how you can use a non-binding case evaluation to break your impasse:  ”The arbitrator issued his [nonbinding opinion], the parties immediately used it to frame their negotiations, and — after one more tactic from the other side that I’ll post about soon — we got the case settled.”   This post is about that “one more tactic.” More…

Categories: Negotiation,Settlement,Tactics