Mediation Solutions of NY, LLC co-founder, Allison C. Johs, recently appeared as a guest on the Personal Injury Marketing Minute podcast with Lindsay Busfield, where she talked about mediation in a personal injury case. The podcast covers:
- How mediation works in personal injury cases
- Why personal injury lawyers and their clients might choose mediation
- What happens when things don’t work out, and
- How personal injury attorneys and their clients can prepare for mediation to improve the chances of a positive outcome.
See some key takeaways below.
Here are a few key takeaways from the podcast:
When might it make sense to mediate a personal injury case?
- You want to preserve a relationship with the other party
- You need a neutral third party for an objective viewpoint to close the gap between the parties
- You want remedies that are not specifically laid out in the law
- Court backlogs and delays mean your case won’t get resolved for years
- Costs add up both for defendants (long delays mean higher legal fees) and plaintiffs (experts and other trial expenses) in litigation; you typically don’t have the same level of expenses for mediation
How does the mediation process work for personal injury cases?
- Once the parties have agreed to mediation, they will choose the mediator to hear the case.
- Each party will put together their submissions for the mediator to review. These might include:
- Medical records or a summary of medical records
- Photographs
- Police reports, or other evidence
- Summary of your arguments
- Mediation is a more informal process than trial or arbitration.
- The mediator will usually begin with a joint session with all parties
- Then the mediator will speak with each party individually
- The role of the mediator is to create a resolution that works for everyone.
- Once an agreement is reached, the mediator will write up a settlement agreement.
- If the parties cannot agree, they can move on to binding arbitration or trial.
- Typically, everything that is said during a mediation is confidential and cannot be used at a subsequent trial or arbitration.
How can a personal injury attorney and their client best prepare for mediation?
- Prepare a mediation submission, even if it is not required.
- Take some time to think about what is most important to you; What is the resolution that you would like to see?
- Discuss your strategy in advance of the mediation.
You can listen to the full episode here.