Members of our Arbitration and Mediation Group know that not every case should be tried and appreciate that parties, and their lawyers, often need the assistance of a neutral to resolve disputes outside of court. While we mediate any kind of dispute, we focus on business and commercial disputes, employment, environmental, bankruptcy/restructuring, professional liability, and insurance coverage and defense matters.
As mediators, and in our other lives as trial lawyers and business counselors, we know that litigation is uncertain, time-consuming, costly, emotionally draining and stressful for the parties. Almost inevitably, litigation distracts the parties from more profitable pursuits. The only goal of mediation is to eliminate those costs, uncertainties and stress through a quick, comprehensive and confidential settlement. We also understand when and under what circumstances mediation is most likely to be successful, as well as the relationships, communication impediments and interests that often preclude settlement without a neutral.
We also decide disputes as neutrals. One of the members of our mediation group has acted as an arbitrator in many dozens of cases for over 25 years. He typically arbitrates business and commercial disputes, including franchise claims, real estate matters, business valuations, employee terminations, and intellectual property and non-compete claims.
Another member of our mediation group is also a member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council and trained in collaborative dispute resolution. In this approach, parties are represented by lawyers, under a collaborative law participation agreement, for the limited purpose of advocacy and counseling during the negotiation of a settlement, but not in court.
Our rates for mediation, arbitration and collaborative services are competitive, without the administrative and handling charges that dedicated alternative dispute resolution providers typically charge. The members of our group also are flexible about how they approach mediation, arbitration, and collaborative dispute resolution. We structure and schedule the process in the way that will best meet the parties’ and their lawyers’ goals. We are always willing to travel for the convenience of the participants or to host the dispute resolution, at no additional cost, in our easily-accessible offices.
