We have a couple of mediations a month. The Alternative Resolution Process (ADR) is required by the Minnesota Courts in most cases. You can’t go to trial in Minnesota with a civil case unless your claim has at least gone through one of the ADR options. Usually we use mediation, which is a process where a independent lawyer is hired to try to work out a deal between the two sides.
It’s a process that has grown as older trial lawyers have moved in a great number into the role of mediators. It requires a person that each side will at least listen to. A perfect mediation is defined as both sides being unhappy. The plaintiff takes less and the defendant pays more. For me, it’s trying to get the defendants to their top dollar, so my client can make their decision with as much information as possible. They should not go to trial with out know what it is they are risking.
In a recent mediation the mediator used the settlement vs trial article from the New York Times that I had previously blogged about to support the reasons why it made sense to settle. That case did get settled. The defendant claimed they paid more than they planned to and my client decided to settle instead of taking the risk with trial. Hopefully justice was served.
A founding partner with Bradshaw & Bryant, Mike Bryant has always fought to find justice for his clients—knowing that legal troubles, both personal injury and criminal, can be devastating for a family. Voted a Top 40 Personal Injury "Super Lawyer" multiple years, Mr. Bryant has also been voted one of the Top 100 Minnesota "Super Lawyers" four times.
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