In many courts, mediations are becoming a regular step in the litigation process. This is due in part to their high success rates. Another tool being used to settle cases, though in a much more intimidating manner, is the offer of personal injury judgment (more on that later).
Mediations are becoming more and more popular in the United States and are more and more often being required by personal injury judges prior to trial. A mediation is a relatively informal meeting of the parties in an attempt to settle a lawsuit.
Do not confuse mediation with arbitration. In an arbitration, the parties choose an arbitrator or several arbitrators, to privately decide a case for them. The case is presented to the arbitrator who acts as sort of a personal injury judge and makes a binding decision in the case and the case never goes to trial.
Unlike an arbitrator, a mediator does not make any decisions in your case.
There are several steps in a typical mediation. First, the plaintiff, defendant(s), their injury lawyers, insurance adjusters and the mediator will usually meet for an opening session. Do not be surprised if the actual defendant(s) does not attend. Since it is usually the insurance company that makes the decision about whether to pay out money, in personal injury cases the defendants may not be required though they are usually invited to attend.
In a typical opening session, each side will present the basic facts of their case to the mediator and to each other in the form of a speech or presentation. Each side will try to outline the strong parts of their case and may even point out some weaknesses if it is strategically preferable to do so. Your personal injury attorney may or may not ask you to speak (usually about your injuries and pain) during the opening session.
Part of the purpose of the opening session is to put “a human face” on the claim for the insurance adjuster who up to this time has probably never seen you. It is also designed to let the defense personal injury attorney know that you will be a sympathetic witness to a jury (assuming that you will be a sympathetic witness to a jury). As such, it is a good idea during this opening session to try not to be angry or cocky or unpleasant because, if the defendant’s injury lawyer and adjuster think that you will appear angry or unpleasant in front of them, you might not make a good impression in front of the jury. That may actually reduce the amount they offer to settle the case.
Also dress nicely for the mediation. You do not want to dress to formally, but you also do not want to dress too casually. Talk to your personal injury attorney in advance about what to wear. Keep in mind that the adjuster and defendant’s injury lawyer have probably dealt with hundreds or even thousands of plaintiffs. They will look for weaknesses not only in your case, but in how sympathetic you will look to a jury and/or how much a jury will probably like you.
Second, once all of the parties have summarized their cases in the group session, most mediators will then separate each of the parties into different rooms. You and your personal injury attorney will go to one room and each defendant and his or her personal injury attorney along with the insurance adjusters will go to other rooms. Sometimes if there are multiple defendants, they will stay together and sometimes they will separate, depending on their wishes and the practices of the mediator. The same holds true if there are multiple, unrelated, plaintiffs.
The mediator will then go from room to room, talking with each party in more detail about their strengths, weaknesses and strategies. One advantage of these separate sessions is that each party can give information to the mediator confidentially, that the mediator will not tell the other side (make sure the mediator knows what information is confidential and what he or she may share with the other side).
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Articleinput.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
Note: This article was sent to us by: Fiona T. at 02022010
1. The personal injury mediator will not tell the other parties your secrets
All articles are property of their respective authors. Please read our Privacy Policy!
© 2009 ArticleInput.com.