Unlocking the Power of Choice Through Mediation In my 30+ years as both a trial attorney and mediator, I’ve learned that HOW you approach mediation often shapes the outcome just as much as the negotiations themselves. The negotiation process is a crucial part of your negotiation strategy. For example, many

Strengthen Your Mediation Negotiation With MESOs Want a simple way to improve your mediation outcomes? Start with MESOs. What in the world are MESOs? Multiple Equivalent Settlement Offers (MESOs). Instead of making a single settlement proposal, MESOs involve presenting two or three different offers that are equally valuable to your

Who Are You Trying to Persuade? Trial lawyers are trained to persuade—judges, juries, opposing counsel. But persuasion looks different in mediation. Here’s a key shift in strategy: Your mediation memorandum isn’t about convincing the mediator. Mediators don’t decide cases—we help the parties reach an agreement. The most effective mediation memoranda

Leveraging Trial Skills in Mediation Success As trial lawyers, we put a lot of effort into developing our deposition skills, trial skills and negotiating skills. When we mediate for a client, we use many of the same skills, but we have to adjust our approach if we want to have

Helping Your Clients Navigate Settlement Decisions in Mediation As lawyers, we’ve all been in the situation where a potential settlement looks like it’s in the client’s best interests . . . . but the client wants to walk away. It’s an issue that requires your legal knowledge, patience, and strategic

The Case for Systematic Case Evaluation Before Mediation Seasoned trial lawyers often lean on instinct when assessing case value—but even the sharpest instincts can miss the nuances that make or break a case. That’s why a systematic approach to case evaluation is invaluable. It helps you dig deeper, ensuring that

Compounding Risks in Case Evaluation: A Mediator’s Perspective When evaluating a case, it’s easy to identify risks individually—but the real challenge lies in understanding how those risks compound. Too often, negotiators focus on isolated risks—the likelihood of losing a motion or an issue at trial—without considering how those risks interact.

The Power of Early Dispute Resolution: A Case Study in Efficiency Recently, I mediated a products liability case that highlighted the benefits of early dispute resolution. What made this case unique? No discovery had been conducted. None. At first glance, that might sound like a huge roadblock to settlement. Yet, the

Getting in the Reps Younger lawyers – are you getting in the reps? This morning as I was working out, the trainer kept pushing the class. “Finish your reps.” “[Muscle] failure is where the growth begins.” It’s not much different in the legal practice. No matter how many books we