I generally think mediation is a good thing. It gets the parties to the table and gives them the chance to settle their differences before incurring the expense of trial. Most of the mediations I participate in are court-ordered or contractually required because clients never really want to go to mediation.
And clients are never happy when they leave a mediation. No matter how much I try to limit expectations, or how many times I tell my clients that mediation means compromise and every party has to give up a little more than he really wants, they are never really satisfied after a mediation. Because they had to give up a little more than they wanted, just like I warned.
They don't realize that the saved tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in attorney's fees. Or that they have a bird in the hand instead of a shot at trial.
It's just so frustrating to know that you got a really good result that was truly in your client's best interest and to have the client remain dissatisfied.
1 comment:
Truer words were never written. I remember a case I mediated toward the end of my last job: there were no physical injuries, the tort didn't take place on the defendant's property, the tortfeasor's actions didn't have any nexus with the defendant's business, and my client made a very bad plaintiff. It would have lost on summary and even if it had survived, it would have no jury appeal.
I was in mediation with a federal magistrate all freaking day and got a nice five figure sum. It was a great result. And all the client did was complain about the dollar amount.
(But I am still proud of that one.)
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