Quarantines and Settling Cases

Courts are closing. Meetings and mediations are being cancelled. Travel is way down. Can you make progress towards settling your cases in this environment? Actually, yes you can. Quite a bit. One thing I know for certain right now - every mediator everywhere has more time on their hands. You might also. How does this help when people don’t want to be in the same room? Here are 5 things you can do now that might move you towards settlement quickly when we come out of this:

1. Talk to your adversary (or adversaries) about the negotiation process. Maybe you can narrow the focus of the discussion. Maybe there are some things you actually agree on.

2. For those cases where a mediator is already assigned but the mediation has been postponed, polish and submit those pre-mediation submissions. This gives the mediator more time to think about your case and direct you towards issues that might require a greater focus at the mediation.

3. Try something creative with pre-mediation calls. If you haven’t had a separate call with a mediator in advance of a mediation, try doing so. You might find it useful and change your practice as a result. If you have done this before, think about what you’ve accomplished in those calls and what might be done better and try that out.

4. If you already had a mediation session but didn’t settle, re-engage the mediator for some follow up. Once the parties have spent some time together, a lot can be accomplished by telephone diplomacy. Work with your mediator to explore the options.

5. Vet mediators for future cases. Call a few mediators you haven’t worked with yet and spend 20 minutes talking to them about their process. Mediators are not judges. You can get to know them a bit before you retain one. If you do this, you might lengthen your list of mediators for future mediations.

I might have more ideas. If so, I’ll post again. I have a bit more time on my hands as well.