What does that mean for people who look to the courts to resolve disputes? The answer to that question is constantly evolving. What follows is a snapshot of how things stand today, the day this article is published. Now, electronic filing is permitted on non-essential matters, courts are conducting conferences and hearing arguments on motions and appeals virtually.
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Given the seismic disruption to our lives that this pandemic has caused, Zoom mediations provide an excellent opportunity to settle a dispute now, which would also have the virtue of limiting (or ending) the expenses and fees that parties will have to pay if a dispute goes on to, or proceeds in, litigation.
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An effective mediator can go a long way to help parties resolve, or, at the very least, narrow the issues in a dispute. An ineffective mediator can accomplish little other than wasting the parties’ time and money. Mediation is an opportunity to arrive at a settlement reasonably acceptable to you and at far less cost — and in far less time — than if you had to litigate the case all the way to a verdict.
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Presumptive ADR, which in many cases will mean mediation, will bring a sea change in the way cases are litigated in New York State. On May 14, 2019, New York State Chief Judge Janet DiFiore announced “a transformational move to advance the delivery and quality of civil justice in New York as part of [her] Excellence Initiative.”
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Now that mediation is being used more and more frequently, as discussed recently in this article, what should a party’s goals be in the mediation and how can they achieve them?
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With increasing frequency, mediation is not a choice that can be made by a party in a lawsuit or transaction; the courts are requiring parties to go to mediation.
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Co-authored with colleague Adam J. Halper, I am pleased to share this article written for New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer. Originally printed: NYSBA New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer | Fall 2018 | Vol. 11 | No. 2.
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“Should I attend a mediation? What is my role?” The answer to the first question is simple. Parties in most instances must attend a mediation. Court rules and mediation providers often require it, and it is certainly a best practice. Most mediators would not go forward without the parties in attendance.
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The persistent mediator will periodically check back in with the attorneys to learn what has occurred and to see if the new realities, or even just the passage of time, might result in the parties being able to pick up where they left off and try to overcome the seemingly insurmountable divide.
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We know when a mediation begins. The better, and often more challenging questions are: when has it ended and was it successful? If at the end of one or more agreed-upon sessions the parties settle all of the issues in the dispute, the answer is an easy one—perhaps.
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