Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser — in fees, expenses, and waste of time. As a peacemaker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
Trials are messy, uncertain, and unpredictable. But if you have a lawsuit, you are stuck with a trial, right?
Not necessarily! The right mediator can help the two sides put aside their differences long enough to work out a solution that meets both sides’ needs.
Lee Wallace is a fully trained mediator, certified with the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution. She has been trained in Georgia, and also at the Harvard Law School Negotiation Workshop and the Harvard Law School Mediation course.
Lee Wallace has the experience to help you settle your case. With more than 25 years of law experience, she has evaluated and litigated cases involving just about every type of civil law, including contract disputes, personal injury, product liability, premises liability, whistleblower/qui tam, auto accidents, class action, mass tort and medical malpractice. She has represented large, corporate defendants as well as individuals. Contact Lee Wallace today to schedule a mediation.
Learn more about how to successfully negotiate your case! Read our mediation blog.
Advantages of Mediation
1) More control
It is better to get along peaceably if possible.
By mediating your case, you get far more control over the outcome. If you go through a trial, you are asking twelve complete strangers to make a decision about an issue of great importance to you.
And if you don’t think the settlement option is fair and just, you can always say “no” – and go on to trial.
2) Faster results
By settling, you will most likely get your money sooner; and with much less trouble & expense.
The lengthy wait for trial is hard on plaintiffs and defendants, individuals and companies. By contrast, a settlement happens right away, as soon as you agree. Within a matter of days individuals can collect their money and move on with medical treatment and the rest of their lives. Companies can know much earlier what the costs of a lawsuit will be so that they can make better business decisions, and company employees can be spared the distraction of litigation, discovery and trial.
3) Less Time-Consuming
I do not think there is the least use of doing any more with the law suit. I not only do not think you are sure to gain it, but I do think you are sure to lose it. Therefore the sooner it ends the better.
Trials take up time that you could be spending working or just living. All of the parties will spend untold hours going through discovery and preparing for trial. Then, a representative from each party will need to attend the trial. Witnesses – friends, family, employees and bystanders – will have to take off work to show up to testify.
By contrast, settlement conferences generally take only one day. They can take place months, even years, before a trial would have taken place. The plaintiff ends up with money sooner, and the defendant gets a clear, defined resolution, without having to expend resources on years of discovery, litigation tracking and trial.
Who Should Be Your Mediator?
To give your case the best chance to settle, you need to use a mediator both sides respect. You want a mediator who will listen, but who is tough enough to stand up to the other side if they are being unreasonable.
How Do You Pick the Right Mediator?
You want a mediator who has extensive litigation experience and a talent for identifying the pivotal issues. A great mediator can assess the entire dispute and hone in on the key points. Your mediator needs to be able to foster true, two-way communication between the two sides so that the clients can settle their lawsuit without fireworks.
You need Lee Wallace with BAY mediation. With 25 years of experience litigating cases ranging from contracts to personal injury to qui tam, Lee has the range of experience to help the parties reach settlement.