Does What Happens in Mediation Stay in Mediation?
8/14/20
By: Barry Miller Insurers: Time to review your mediation practices. As COVID-19 travel restrictions force most mediations online, often with participants in more than one state, insurance carriers must re-examine their assumptions about the process. They need assurance that what happens in mediation stays in mediation and does not become the foundation for a bad…
How Should a California Mediator Deal With An Unrepresented Party?
6/17/20
By: Greg Fayard Most California mediators are lawyers. When mediator-lawyers handle a mediation where one party does not have a lawyer, the lawyer-mediator has to treat that pro per party differently than a party who has a lawyer. Specifically, if the mediator suspects the unrepresented party does not understand the role of a mediator as…
Ready Camera One: Remote Litigation in the Era of Social Distancing
4/7/20
By: Jennifer Adair, Jennifer Markowski and Andy Treese Evaluating claims to move them towards resolution or trial is the lifeblood of a defense practice. This typically requires direct interaction with a plaintiff and key witnesses, either at deposition (to hear their testimony, to form impressions of how they will be received by a jury), at mediation…
As of 1/1/19 California Lawyers & Clients Going To Mediation Have To Sign This
12/19/18
By: Greg Fayard Come January 1, 2019, California lawyers who participate in mediations will need to provide written disclosures to their clients explaining mediation confidentiality. Further, California lawyers must get written acknowledgment from clients that they understand mediation confidentiality before participating in mediation. This requirement does not apply to class actions, however. The new law…