Courts are crowded and judges have limited hearing time. Trial dockets were full before the pandemic, then got worse, and now we need to clear the backlog. In states like Florida where there is an influx of new residents post-pandemic, state and federal courts have an important role to play in helping parties achieve access to justice quickly. Encouraging early mediation is a simple but meaningful step.  Authority rules, attendance requirements, and orders requiring premediation submittals are helpful. But curiously, judges too often ignore a painless way to help reduce the jud ..read more

Henry Mediation is pleased to offer Florida Bar approved CLE through an online video library at HenryADR.com. Included with the video library is the 5- hour Mediation Mastery Series which covers a wide range of mediation topics including rules governing attendance and authority, industry and case-specific tactics, and valuable information for new and seasoned attorneys. There are also stand-alone programs added periodically on topics including mediation planning, insurance, settlement agreements, and enforcement issues. In these programs we provide the best lesso ..read more

There are many business disputes too large to ignore but too small to litigate for any period of time. Absent contingency fees and insurance coverage, when the amount in controversy is under $200,000, the fees and costs to resolve the dispute can ultimately be disproportionate to the settlement value of the case. Unfortunately, our rules of procedure and judicial processes are not well-suited for managing low-stakes business disputes. The rules and process don’t change with the amount in controversy and therein lies the problem. We need a simpler, more cost-e ..read more

There are few topics that engender more confusion than remedies for breach of a mediated settlement agreement. The scope of the rule governing breach and sanctions is greatly circumscribed by the case-law and this conflict warrants discussion. This article will give you what you need to know. Turning first to the rules, asserting a breach of a mediated settlement agreement appears straightforward. Rule 1.730(d) provides:  Imposition of Sanctions. In the event of any breach or failure to perform under the agreement, the court upon motion may impose sanctions, inc ..read more

Now that the majority of mediations are conducted via Zoom, I think Plaintiffs’ attorneys will need to work a little harder than Defendants. Why so? Before remote attendance was commonplace, defense counsel, the defendant, and the insurance carrier, if any, came from somewhere and sat in a room all day. They flew or drove to the location. Significant dollars were spent to attend mediation. Those participants did not want to drive or fly home with a declaration of impasse pondering why the case didn’t settle, what they could have done differently, or pacifying the anxious defendant who still f ..read more

Henry Mediation offers Zoom mediation through MediationServicesOnline.com for lawyers and clients seeking to conduct mediation by remote means. A recent survey of mediators conducted by the NADN found that the overwhelming majority of mediators are using Zoom or remote means approximately 75% of the time. Those who predicted in-person mediation would return to pre-pandemic levels were wrong. Virtual mediation is market friendly – safe, cheap, efficient, and here to stay. Most agree settlements rates have not been meaningfully affected.  Both state and federal courts permit mediations to ..read more

Lawyers who regularly represent defendants know that clients or carriers are using settlement rates and aggregate legal spend, not trial results, as the metric for selecting counsel. With trial occurring in approximately 1% of filed cases, excellence in mediation advocacy plays an important role in client retention. Here are some suggestions for strengthening client relationships through effective mediation advocacy. Clients do not want to pay for bickering over procedural issues and discovery during the litigation. Call the Plaintiff’s attorney at the outset of the ..read more

Henry Mediation Guess Who’s Coming to Mediation? The Problem of Unwanted Attendees in Mediation The rules governing attendance at mediation are not widely known, and there are some commonly held misunderstandings that require debunking. There are few things more disruptive than disputes over participation and authority. In the worst-case scenario, the parties have not communicated in advance, and an unwanted someone unexpectedly appears at the start of mediation to the consternation of the other side. Invariably, the parties will appeal to the mediator to resolve the dispute over attendance. I ..read more

Henry Mediation Your Early Holiday Stocking Stuffer: The Silver Dollars I Picked Off Your Floor I want to offer you a valuable stocking stuffer for next year. For most lawyers billing hourly, the smallest profit generator is the billable unit recorded as one-tenth of an hour – the “point-one.” When you engage in any large task, there is a small amount of lead-up time, and a transition-away time from that task to the next. Cognitively, the spool-up and spool-down into and out of each task takes somewhere between 2 to 3 minutes. The point-one billing increment helps capture this time. Lawyers an ..read more

Henry Mediation Best Practices for Mediating Catastrophic Injury and Large Losses in Transportation-Related Claims Transportation claims suffer from frequency and severity. It stands to reason we should become more expert at resolving these cases short of trial. Catastrophic injury and large loss claims require a level of concerted activity prior to mediation that is sometimes underappreciated or overlooked. Here are ten best practices to incorporate into your premediation routine when you defend transportation claims: 1  If you are a carrier or self-insured, instruct counsel to mediate p ..read more