Fridays With Rogers Partners

This morning, at our weekly firm meeting, Tom Macmillan presented a seminar on mediations as part of our in-firm Litigation Strategy Series.

Tom provided some very helpful and practical tips, including:

• Be open-minded about the selection of a mediator. If you have not used a particular mediator before, it may be worthwhile to give him or her a try.
• Experienced mediators should be considered not just in big cases. Small cases are sometimes the most difficult ones to settle, and an experienced mediator can be helpful in such cases.
• Arrange for any necessary medical examinations well in advance of a mediation.
• Update your client on the status of a file and provide settlement recommendations well prior to a mediation.
• Draft mediation briefs in a concise manner.
• A defendant who has a very strong position on liability may not want to comment on damages. Sometimes the strongest statement is to make none at all.

Next week, Tom will be presenting the second part of his seminar on mediations.